An Alternative Special Education
by Bunnyboy
Summary: Puck and Rachel are both helped by a kind stranger at school. Can this new guy be the one to fill Kurt's shoes after he left for Dalton and help keep the New Directions alive or can he melt a certain Cheerios heart? AU for S02E09 Special Education.
1. A New Smile

_Authors note:_

_When I watched S02E09 Special Education, I wasn't exactly happy with them replacing Kurt with Lauren Zizes. So I started writing my own. I decided to change it to a romance story as I noticed that quiet a few of the couples in this episode were having trouble so I hope you enjoy._

_Special Thanks to Kurtrina Hummel for Beta Reading for me.  
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* * *

_Puck huddled into the corner of the upturned porta-potty. He had been stuck inside it since yesterday morning. His recruitment drive for the glee club with the football team in the locker room hadn't gone quiet as he had expected. And now he regretted opening his mouth. He had been screaming for help for most of the night but after a while he'd just given up. He didn't wear a watch and his phone was in his locker so he didn't know what time it was and he couldn't call for help. There was a rustle of sound from outside as he heard someone pulling the bar out from the handle of the door. There was a burst of light as the door was pulled open. Suddenly a face appeared blocking out the light. All Puck could see for a second was a silhouette in the mid-day sun. As his eyes adjusted, he saw a guy staring back at him.

"You alright dude?" said the guy. Puck stared at him for a few moments more.

"Are you an angel?" asked Puck. The guy laughed and outstretched his hand.

"Kinda doubt it dude," Puck grabbed his hand and the guy pulled him out of the porta-potty. As soon as his feet were on flat ground Puck heaved a sigh of relief.

"Might want to think about a shower dude," He laughed. Puck looked up but didn't recognise the guy. He was tall with brown hair and brown eyes. He was built like a footballer but Puck had never seen him at practice.

"Who are you?" Puck asked as he straightened out his own clothes.

"James," He answered. "What were you doing in there?"

"Football team locked me in there,"

"Ouch dude," He looked off into the distance before checking his watch. "Damn I'm late, I'd better get going to class, cya" He turned and began to walk away. Puck watched him for a second before he disappeared. Thinking for a minute, he decided to ditch school today and go get a shower and some much needed sleep.

* * *

Rachel walked down the corridor towards glee club. She was still pretty upset about Finn and Santana but she didn't really know how to deal with it. She still wore the necklace with Finns name on it round her neck. She still really loved Finn but she was angry with him too for lying to her. Rachel fingers fumbled with the gold chain as she walked, not really paying attention to where she was walking. Suddenly she slammed against something big and hard and she fell backwards to the floor a little dazed.

"Hey you ok?" asked a voice from beside her. She shook her head to get her vision to focus. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up at its owner. He had medium length brown hair and brown eyes. He was well-built like a footballer.

"What happened?" She asked him dizzily.

"Well you kind of walked straight into a wall," He let out a little laugh. "What's your name?"

"Rachel," She smiled at him.

"Wow, anyone told you how beautiful your smile is Rachel," his voice had a strong English accent. This was light and soft and made her smile even wider. "I'm James, think you can walk?" He outstretched his hand to her and she immediately took it. He pulled her to her feet.

"Thanks James" She said. He let go of her and she swayed a little on her feet and James instantly grabbed her shoulder so she didn't fall.

"I think I'd better take you to the nurse," He said as he wrapped an arm around her waist to support her weight, walking her to the nurse's office.

"How come I've never seen you around school before?" She asked as they walked.

"I started school here just a couple of days ago. I had to move to the US to live with my Aunt,"

"Where did you used to live?"

"Just outside of Sheffield in England," He seemed to lose his smile when he mentioned his home. However it was only for a moment before he began smiling again. "What about you?" Rachel answered almost immediately.

"Oh I've always lived here. I live with my two dads who adopted me," She expected James to ask about it but he never did. They turned the corner and saw the nurse's office. James, still holding onto Rachel, opened the door and led her in. The nurse looked up from her desk at the two teenagers.

"Hi, she walked into a wall and she's a little shaken," James said.

"I feel a lot better now though," Rachel said. The nurse still insisted on her lying down for a while just to be sure. James didn't leave either. He sat down on the chair next to the bed. After a few minutes of silence he spoke.

"So you want to tell me what's on your mind?" He asked with that great smile of his.

"Nothing's bothering me," She answered as the nurse handed her a wet towel to place on her forehead. She heard him laugh slightly.

"Well you walked full whack into a wall," James said. "I'd say something was bothering you," Rachel waiting a few moments before she sighed.

"I found out my boyfriend has been lying to me,"

"And you're punishing yourself by walking into walls?" James said with a laugh. Rachel laughed too. There was a moments silence between them until the nurse's phone rang. She answered it and Rachel looked over at James.

"Are you seeing anyone?" Rachel asked. It was James' turn to sigh.

"No, I was back home but it was nothing serious and then I had to move here so," He answered. The room went silent again for a few minutes. Rachel began to think about Finn and Santana and the motel room. Before she knew it a small tear ran down her cheek. She wiped her eye and sat up on the bed.

"I'm ok now," She said. The nurse gave her a quick look over to make sure she didn't have any bumps or anything but she was fine. They both left together and walked down the corridor back towards the different classrooms. "Thanks for helping me, that was very sweet of you,"

"Anything for a damsel in distress," He said with a smile. "Oh and I hope you and your guy sort things out, I'm sure he just didn't want to hurt your feelings,"

"Thanks," Rachel said with a big smile. James looked down at his watch.

"Well looks like I've missed most of my literature class," He said.

"Sorry about that," Rachel said softly.

"No its fine, I hate literature anyway," He laughed. "Besides this way I'll be early for Chemistry and I love chemistry," His smile got wider and Rachel laughed. "What do you have?"

"Well I'm supposed to be in Spanish right now and this afternoon I have Biology and then Glee Club,"

"Cool, well I'll see you around Rach," James gave her a quick wink and began to walk off towards the science classrooms. "Oh and keep an eye out for walls," Rachel watched him till he vanished round the corner.

"_What a sweet guy"_ She thought. She grabbed the stuff she needed from her locker and headed off to what remained of her Spanish class.

* * *

The next day, Puck closed his locker and began to walk towards Glee club. He still hadn't found a new recruit for the club. They needed twelve members to go to sectionals and since Kurt left to be a Warbler, they had been left with just eleven. Mr. Schue had asked him to become glee clubs am-badass-ador and find someone but he didn't know who to ask. He certainly didn't want to risk ending up stuck in the porta-potty again.

The hallways were pretty empty as it was the end of the day and most students had already gone home. As Puck walked along the corridor he saw James putting books into his locker.

James was wearing a black leather jacket with a plain blue t-shirt underneath and a pair of simple black trousers. Around his neck was a simple silver chain with two rings on it which hung down onto his chest.

"Hey man," Puck said as he walked up to James who looked up and smiled.

"Hey dude, you look a lot better," He said as he picked out a cream coloured messenger bag from his locker and closed it.

"I never got a chance to thank you for yesterday dude," Punk said.

"No problem man, happy to help,"

"No man I mean it," Puck said as he looked around the corridor to see who else was around. "You saved my life; I've got your back," James looked at Puck with puzzled look on his face.

"Erm, Ok," James said after a few seconds. "What was your name again?"

"Noah Puckerman, but people round here call me Puck," Puck outstretched his hand and James shook it.

"James Phoenix," They shook hands for just a moment. "So what were you doing in that porta-potty yesterday?" Puck sighed at the question.

"I was trying to recruit a new member for the Glee Club after football practice and the other guys on the football team decided to make an example of me,"

"Hold on a second," James said with a puzzled look on his face. "You're on the football team and the in the Glee Club?"

"Yeah quite a few football players are in the Glee Club," Puck answered. "Also some of the Cheerios,"

"So why were you trying to recruit a new member?"

"We need 12 members to compete at Sectionals and one of our guys recently transferred because some guy was wailing on him and threatened to kill him," James suddenly had a very strange look on his face.

"Because he was in the Glee Club?"

"No it was because he was gay,"

"Oh well that sucks, when are sectionals?"

"In a week," Puck sighed. James simply nodded.

"Well good luck dude, hope you find someone," James said as he turned towards the school exit. Puck watched for a moment as James began to walk away. Then suddenly an idea popped in his head.

"Dude?" Puck shouted after James. "Can you dance?" James stopped and turned. He seemed to think about it for a moment.

"Yeah sure, as much as the next guy can I guess," James answered back. Puck walked up to him while he spoke.

"Why don't you join the Glee Club?" Puck asked him.

"Whoa dude that's a lot of responsibility," James answered. "I mean you guys have a competition in a week, you don't know if I'm even any good. I don't want to let anyone down,"

"Dude trust me no pressure," Puck answered. "We can't compete without a twelve person and we're still sorting out our set list so we don't even know the moves yet," It was silent for a moment. James blew out a few breaths as he thought about it.

"All right man," He answered. "Where is it?"

"I'm on my way there now," Puck said as he pointed over his shoulder. "It's in the choir room,"

"Alright let me put my stuff in my car and I'll meet you there," James quickly turned and walked out of the school doors. Puck smiled and walked towards Glee Club.

* * *

Puck was the last one to arrive in the club. There was a loud voice which wasn't someone singing. Their teacher, Will Schuester seemed to be upset about something.

"There's an awful lot of me talk going around," He said. "What's in it for me? What solo am I gonna sing," He took in a deep breath and lowered his voice. "Now when we go to Sectionals, were gonna be good sports. We'll cheer on the Hipsters, We'll cheer on Kurt and the Worblers and if they win, we will congratulate them because that's who we are," Puck rounded the corner into the room. Artie spotted him first.

"Dude, where have you been?" He asked. Puck just shrugged his shoulders at him. Puck then turned to Mr. Schuester.

"Mr. Schue?" Puck said.

"Yes Puck?"

"I found us a twelfth member," Everyone seemed to smile at that point. "He's just putting some gear in his car and then he'll be right in,"

"Nice work Puck," Will outstretched his hand and Puck shook it. "We owe you one," After that Will pointed for Puck to go and sit with the others. "Well you guys take a break while we wait for our new member," Mr. Schue then turned towards the piano and began looking over some song sheets.

"So Puck, who's this new guy?" Santana asked.

"Some new guy in school called James with an English accent," Puck answered. Rachel's face lit up.

"Oh I met him yesterday, he was really sweet,"

"I was trying to recruit a new member for sectionals so I asked the football team and they decided to make an example of me. So they locked me in one of the porta-potties and tipped it over. I was locked in that porta-potty for 24 hours," The other members of the Glee club looked at each other. "James saved me so I thought I'd ask him if he wanted to join,"

Faint sounds of footsteps began to echo down the hallway outside the room. Everyone looked up at the door as the footsteps became louder. A few seconds later and James nervously walked into the room to be greeted by everyone staring at him.

"Hey," He said after a few moments of awkward silence. Mr. Schuester walked up to him.

"You must be James," Will held out his hand and James shook it with a smile. "I'm Will Schuester,"

"It's nice to meet you sir, I'm James Phoenix,"

"Well were glad to have you here James," William turned to his students. "Ok guys; give a round of applause to welcome our newest member. James Phoenix," The other students all clapped, some with very little enthusiasm.

"Sir?" James asked. "Don't I have to audition or something?" A smile simply spread across Will's face.

"Not normally as we believe that anyone should be able to join Glee club, but with a vital competition so close I wouldn't mind seeing what you can do so we know what to work on if that's ok?" Will asked. James looked at the floor for a minute before he answered.

"That's ok with me Mr. Schuester,"

"Ahh, I might have just the thing as well," Mr Schue walked towards his office and a few minutes later came out with two midsized wrapped boxes. "I came up with this idea over the last few weeks and I think it may be useful here. We have a week until Sectionals and I've noticed how tense some people are so this might make the next week a little more fun for you guys," He placed the boxes on the piano next to each other. "This is called the random challenge," He pointed to the boxes.

"The first one is 'What?' this refers to what type of song; sometimes this will be ballad or pop or maybe even a specific song…" He moved to the next box. "And this one refers to 'Who?'. This is who you will perform with such as with a partner or on your own. I will add more boxes in the future but for now it's just these two. So one person will pick from these boxes and that will be the assignment for the week. The idea is to give you something else to concentrate on besides sectionals. Not that we won't be working on our set list this week but I want you guys to relax and I think this will be a good way for us to welcome James into our group and to see what he's capable of," Will turned to James who was still stood next to him.

"Alright James when you're ready," Will moved the picked up and offered the first box to him which was the 'What?' box. The glee members gently hit their hands against their thighs to create a drum roll. James sighed and nervously reached in to the box. He moved his hand round and pulled out a small piece of folded paper. The drum roll stopped and James unfolded the paper.

"Country," James said aloud. Immediately there was some whispering from the other glee club members.

"Ok so the song you must perform must be a country song," Mr Schue said as he held out the next box to him which was the 'Who?' box. Another drum roll emanated from the other kids as James reached into the box. He pulled out another piece of folded paper. He opened up the paper and the drum roll stopped.

"Quinn," James said once again aloud. Mr. Schue smiled.

"Alright so James will be singing the song with Quinn. So I'll give you till Monday to sort out your performance and the rest of us will be your audience," Will gestured for James to go and join the rest of other students on the chairs. James smiled and sat in the one spare seat next to Sam and Quinn on the second row. "Right so let's get started on the routines for Sectionals, now they've changed the rules again this year and we now have to perform between 8 and 10 minutes, It cannot be anymore or any less so this means were going to need any extra song,"

"Ok guys, great work today," Will said as Glee practice came to an end. "We'll work on our second song tomorrow," Everyone began to clear out of the room. "Hey James can I have a quick word with you?" James looked up as he grabbed his jacket.

"Sure, Mr. Schue," James had picked up the nickname as the other glee members had used it. Tina and Mike walked passed him towards the door.

"Great work James. You were great," Tina said.

"Yeah looks like I've finally got some competition dance wise," Mike said. James laughed.

"Thanks guys," James said. Will waited until they were alone before he spoke.

"I want to thank you for joining," He said. James simply smiled.

"No problem Mr. Schue, I really enjoyed it,"

"You seemed to fit in with the routines very quickly; I was very impressed at how quickly you picked things up,"

"I've been like that all my life," James answered with a laugh. "My Dad always said I had a knack for just picking something up instantly,"

"Sounds like a very wise man," Mr. Schue said. James sighed before he answered.

"He was," James looked at the floor. Will knew instantly that he had said something wrong.

"Are you ok?" He asked. James looked up and gave a half smile.

"Yeah I'm fine. Am I ok to go Mr. Schue?" James asked.

"Of course, cya tomorrow," James gave him a smile before he walked out the door. Will watched him leave.

"_What a nice kid_," thought Will as he walked into his office to finish off his paperwork for the classes tomorrow.

* * *

Please Review. I have more of this already written so I'll post more tomorrow.


	2. I need your touch, don't need your love

"Hey James," said Brittany. She was at her locker which was just a few lockers up from James'. He looked up at her and gave her a smile. He was wearing a white and red checked shirt over a white t-shirt and a pair of dark navy jeans.

"Hey Brittany," He opened up his locker and pulled out a couple of books. As he did he eyed her up and down. She was wearing her Cheerios uniform. "Looking good girl, you looking forward to rehearsal later?" Brittany nodded her head enthusiastically.

"Did you come up with a song for your challenge?" She asked. James placed books into his messenger bag.

"No didn't have much of a chance last night," James yawned as he closed his locker. "And I haven't really spoken to Quinn at all yet," Artie rolled up in his wheelchair behind them with a smile on his face.

"Hey Brittany," Brittany turned and smiled before giving her boyfriend a quick kiss on the lips. Artie then looked up James. "Hey man," He held out his hand in a fist and James put his fist to his.

"How you doing man?" James asked.

"I am all good dude, what you doing tonight after glee rehearsals?"

"Nothing planned dude, why?"

"Some of us are going to the mall and I thought you might like to come,"

"Sure man sounds good," James answered. "Who's going?"

"Most of us are, the girls are going to do some clothes shopping and the guys will hit the arcade and we'll all meet up after for something to eat,"

"Cool man, oh that's perfect actually," James said. "I need a new guitar. Mine got wrecked on the flight over and the airline has just given me the compensation for it,"

"You play guitar?" Artie asked.

"Yeah and I can play the drums a little too," James rested his back against his locker. "My aunts been complaining about me not getting out of the house much so her friend's daughter's band needs a guitarist so I said I'd help out once I got my guitar sorted out,"

"What kind of music do they play?" Brittany asked.

"I checked them out online and they do rock and punk, their called The Crystals," James answered.

"Oh yeah I've seen them before at battle of the bands," Artie said. "They were really good but I thought they were all girls?"

"Apparently one of their guitarists ran off with her boyfriend somewhere and they have some big upcoming gigs they don't want to cancel so they're desperate for someone to stand in,"

"That's so awesome," Brittany said. Artie and James both gave her a look and a smile. "You're so gonna be a rock star with like a jet and everything," When she finished speaking, she stared off into the distance for a few seconds. James and Artie both began to laugh.

"I just play other people songs," James said between laughs. "Artie don't let this girl go man, she's priceless," This made Brittany smile. "Well I'd better be going to class; I'll see you guys later," Artie and Brittany both watched as he left.

"I like that guy," Artie said as he repositioned his wheelchair to where James had been stood.

"Yeah me too," Brittany said. "He's really sweet and funny and not to mention really good looking," Artie looked up at Brittany with a puzzled look on his face to see that Brittany was still staring down the corridor as James walked down it away from them.

"Brittany?" Artie asked trying to get her attention but she still continued to stare. He sighed and reached up, gently pulling down her chin so she looked at him. "I'm your boyfriend down here remember?" He said jokingly. Brittany gave him an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry Artie," She kissed him before smiling again. Artie Laughed.

"It's ok, even I think he's hot," After Artie said that, Brittany was giggling for most of the day.

* * *

"Alright guys," Mr. Schue said as he looked up at the clock on the wall of the rehearsal room. The glee members all stopped moving and looked at him. "That second song is close to being perfect; we'll give it some more time tomorrow and then sort out our last song for sectionals," He dismissed them and everyone began to leave. James walked past him. "James?" James looked up at Will with a smile.

"Yes Mr. Schue?"

"Have you had any luck picking a song yet?" Will asked.

"I've got a few ideas but I've got so much going on its proving difficult," James answered. "Seems like in the last few days everything's going on. I haven't even had time to talk to Quinn about it yet,"

"Well Monday is a bit a tight deadline for you with you being new to the club," Will said as he collected a few song sheets and placed them into his bag. "I've seen that you can sing and dance perfectly fine so maybe we can do it after sectionals?" Will looked up and James was shaking his head.

"No Mr. Schue. It's fine," James said. "I want to do this. I like these guys and I want to prove that I won't let them down at Sectionals. They've worked hard and I want us to win," William smiled as James was talking.

"I like the attitude James,"

"Thanks Mr. Schue," James said. "Anyway did you want to see me for anything else?" William shook his head. "Ok I'll see you tomorrow. Stay cool Mr. Schue" James said as he walked out of the classroom, waving over his shoulder.

* * *

Sam leaned forward to kiss Quinn but she turned her face away from him. Sam looked at her for just a second before he sighed.

"Sorry Quinn," Sam said. He turned and walked away from her down the hallway. Quinn took in a deep breath and leaned back against the lockers before looking down at the floor. She could feel the tears beginning to form in her eyes but she got herself under control as she heard a familiar voice.

"Hey Quinn," James said as he came up to her. She just continued to stare at the ground. James could see her eyes watering up a little. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "You ok?" She slowly looked up and saw James smiling.

"Yeah I'm alright," She answered quietly. "Just boyfriend trouble,"

"Ah seems to be a lot of that going around here," James said with a soft laugh. "You want to talk about it?" He asked. Quinn simply shook her head. "All right, are you coming to the mall with everyone then?"

"Yeah, I'm waiting for my Mom to come and take me," She said softly. He thought for a moment.

"Well I can wait with you if you'd like,"

"No its ok, I'll be fine on my own," She looked away from him to avoid his gaze. James moved so he was looking directly into her eyes still with a smile.

"That women stuff doesn't work on me Quinn," He said softly. "I can see your upset and I'm not going to leave a friend on their own when their upset," Quinn smiled at him. James looked down the hallway for a second. "I'll tell you what; I'll give you a ride to the mall, and I could use a girl's opinions on a few things,"

Quinn wiped her cheek with her hand and slowly nodded her head. She and James needed to talk about their challenge on Monday anyway. James reached into her locker and grabbed a tissue. "Here wipe your eyes," With a gentle smile she took the tissue and dabbed away the small amount of tears that had begun to form in the corner of her eyes.

"Thanks," She said. She threw the tissue into the nearby trashcan. "Is my make-up ok?" James sighed as he shook his head.

"Why would a gorgeous girl like you need make up?" This made Quinn smile again. "And your makeup looks perfect. You ready to go?" Quinn nodded her head and picked up her bag.

"What do you need help with?" She asked. They both began to walk down the corridor towards the exit.

"Well I need help with the song choice for our challenge and also I might need some fashion advice,"

"Oh well I think I can help with that," She smiled. James just smiled back.

* * *

James and Quinn walked towards the student parking lot and Quinn called her Mom to tell her that James was taking her to the mall. James took a set of keys from his pocket and pushed a button. Walking up to a new black Audi four-by-four, the lights flashed to show that the doors were unlocked. He opened the back door and threw his bag onto the back seat.

Quinn slowly opened the passenger door and slid into the front seat placing her bag by her feet. James closed the back door and opened the driver's door and sat behind the wheel. He placed the keys in the ignition and the radio roared to life, blasting out Bon Jovi on a high volume. James instantly turned it down.

"Sorry," He said. "Funny how when you're on your own in the car, it can never be loud enough," He joked. Quinn let out a little laugh. James started up the engine which roared to life and pulled out of the spot and onto the road. As they drove towards the mall, they stayed in silence for a few minutes, just with the sound of rock music quietly playing through the stereo in the background. They stopped at some red lights that crossed an intersection. The song on the radio changed to a quick paced rock song. After a few seconds the words started. When the lights changed, James continued to drive, unaware he was gently singing along.

"_A wild ride, over stony ground_

_Such a lust for life, the circus comes to town_

_We are the hungry ones, on a lightning raid_

_Just like a river runs, like a fire needs flame_

_Oh, I burn for you"_

Quinn smiled. She never heard this song before but she instantly loved it. James continued to sing softly probably not even aware that Quinn could hear him.

"_I got to feel it in my blood, wo oh_

_I need your touch don't need your love, wo oh_

_And I want and I need and I lust_

_Animal_

_And I want and I need and I lust_

_Animal"_

"James?" Quinn asked. James looked over at her in glances while still looking back at the road every so often while still singing along. "What's this song?" She asked as she pointed to the radio.

"It's _Animal_ by Def Leppard," He said. "Do you like it?"

"Yeah its sounds great," Quinn answered. "Can you turn it up?" James smiled.

"Of course," He reached forward and turned the knob on the radio turning the music up really loud. Quinn nodded her head to the beat and James continued to sing the lyrics as the music pumped out of the speakers.

"_I cry wolf, given mouth to mouth_

_Like a movin' heartbeat in the witching hour_

_I'm running with the wind, a shadow in the dust_

_And like the drivin' rain, yeah, like the restless rust_

_I never sleep_

_I got to feel it in my blood, wo oh_

_I need your touch don't need your love, wo oh_

_And I want and I need and I lust_

_Animal_

_And I want and I need and I lust_

_Animal"_

The music then slowed and the lyrics slowed too. James stopped singing as he pulled up to another junction to concentrate on pulling out onto a busy street.

_Huh! Oh!_

_Oh!_

_Cry wolf baby_

_Cry tough_

_Gonna hunt you like an, uh, uh, animal_

_Gonna take your love n' run_

The song then went into a guitar solo. James managed to pull out onto the main road before the chorus hit again. This time, Quinn joined in with the bits of the chorus she knew.

"_I got to feel it in my blood, wo oh_

_I need your touch don't need your love, wo oh_

_And I want and I need and I lust_

_Animal_

_And I want and I need and I lust_

_Animal"_

* * *

James pulled into the car park for the mall around 15 minutes later. Driving around for a few minutes, he found a suitable parking space before they both unbuckled and got out smiling. Quinn picked up her bag and walked round the back of the car. James opened the back seat and quickly rummaged through his bag.

"Bingo," James said. He pulled out his wallet and his mobile phone. He closed the door and locked the car before placing the keys and his wallet in his jean pockets and his cell phone in his shirt pocket.

"Thanks for the ride," Quinn said as they walked towards the mall entrance together.

"No problem Quinn, helping out damsels in distress is what I do best" James said with a smile. Quinn giggled but was cut off by James' cell phone ringing. He looked down at his shirt pocket and pulled out his phone before answering it. "Hello?" He said as he placed the phone against his ear. Quinn could hear a female voice on the other end of the line. James smiled.

"Hey Jess, I must remember to save your number in my phone," There was some more talking on the other end and James laughed. "Well I can only put one girl in my phone under sexy and that's saved for the love of my life when I find her," Quinn laughed as James looked over and winked.

James was flirting with the girl on the phone. At least it sounded like he was. She could hear giggling from the girl on the phone then more muffled words. "Yeah I'm just heading into the mall now to get one," There was more faint words before James answered. "Yes and hopefully a new outfit," A few more words from the girl on the phone. "Well what are you girls wearing?"

James listened to the girl once again. "Nice, sounds hot," The girl on the phone spoke again, "No I'm good, I got some friends who I hope are gonna help me out," James looked over at Quinn again and Quinn simply nodded her head. "Well email me your set list for Thursday night and I'll get practicing tonight," James smiled and nodded his head. "Don't worry about it Jess, I told you I'd be ready. Now what time do you want me tomorrow?" After a few seconds, the girl on the phone said something seductively back to James. Quinn couldn't make it out exactly what she said but she could hear the tone.

"Never mind that, you know what I mean," James said playfully. "What time for practice?" This time the girl answer was very short. "Great. I'll cya then, bye," James hung up the phone and placed it back into his pocket. "Sorry about that," James said to Quinn. Quinn simply smiled.

"What's happening Thursday night?" She asked.

"My first show with The Crystals" James answered. Quinn smile widened as he said the name.

"The Crystals?" She asked in a high voice. James nodded. Quinn had heard of The Crystals while she was pregnant. She couldn't remember who had told her about them. Probably Artie but she had checked them out and found some videos online as well as a few of their songs on iTunes. After just a few days of listening to them she had downloaded their full set of songs as well as the recordings from their live shows. The songs of theirs that she loved were about hardship and unwanted stress. About families falling apart and searching for your father's approval. It had been like they had written songs about her life. That's why she had loved those songs during her pregnancy. Even though she was head cheerleader again and her life was back on track, she would still listen to The Crystals music to remind her how easily life can change.

Quinn looked up at James as he held open the mall door for her to walk through. He bowed slightly as she walked passed in a very dramatic manner. She giggled and walked through with her head held high. James laughed as they continued to walk side by side. "The Crystals are amazing, I used to listen to their music a lot last year," Quinn said deciding not to mention her past pregnancy to James.

"I didn't have you down for a punk rock fan Quinn,"

"Ahh you should never jump to conclusions," Quinn answered shaking her finger playfully at him as they walked past several large department stores towards the arcade in the center of the mall. Quinn suddenly realised who James had been speaking to on the phone. "Was that Jessica Kingsley on the phone?" Jessica was the lead singer and one of the guitarists of the band. Jessica was a teenagers dream. Long blonde curly hair with dark highlights. Long legs and the perfect body. Everything guys want.

"Yeah it was," He answered.

"Wow," Quinn said. "Can't believe you were flirting with Jessica Kingsley," James stopped walking and stared at her with a puzzled look on his face. He was silent for a few seconds.

"When was I flirting with her?" The puzzled look suddenly changed to a smile and a wink. He was teasing her. They both laughed as Quinn grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the arcade.

* * *

"So whom are we waiting for?" Kurt asked Mercedes. They were stood outside the arcade with Finn and Rachel on either side of them. Rachel was still not talking to Finn and she kept looking between him and Santana who was stood nearby talking to Tina. Artie and Puck had already gone inside and were getting change for the various machines they wanted to play.

"Quinn," Mercedes answered. "Oh and the new guy, James,"

"Oh, is he my replacement?" Kurt asked. Mercedes just smiled and held Kurt's hand.

"He's no replacement for you Kurt, but he's pretty cool," Kurt smiled at his best friend. Suddenly they heard laughing as Quinn rounded the corner and James followed a moment later.

"I win!" She giggled as they ran up to the group of friends. She stopped and slumped over to catch her breath.

"Yeah only because you cheated," James said with a laugh as he stopped besides her gasping for air. After a few moments James' breathing was back to normal and he straighten up. Quinn was still huddled over at the middle trying to catch her breath. Everyone just stared at them. James looked over and saw everyone gawping at him and Quinn. He glanced over at the girl by his side and shook his head.

"Even though you beat me and you're supposed to be a cheerleader, you're incredibly out of shape," James said jokingly as he gently patted her on the back. Mercedes and Kurt sniggered at James as Quinn looked up at him.

"Uh oh," Finn said under his breath with a wide smile. Rachel laughed into her hand.

"Well you lost to a girl," Quinn said as her breathing finally slowed to its normal rate. She straightened her back and stuck out her tongue to him through her pink lips.

"Well at least it was a beautiful girl like you," James said softly. Quinn smiled amazingly at him. "Even if you are out of shape," James instantly turned and began walking over to the others who were enjoying watching James and Quinn bantering playfully with each other. "Hey guys," James said to everyone.

"James, this is Kurt," Mercedes said pointing to Kurt besides her. James' smile spread.

"Nice to meet you Kurt," James said as he held out his hand. Kurt instantly reached out and shook it.

"Nice to meet you too, James. I love your accent," Kurt said. James thanked him with a laugh and a nod. Santana and Tina came closer as they all began to speak.

"Right so what we doing?" James asked to everyone. Rachel quickly answered.

"Well we girls are going to do some clothes shopping while we look for costume ideas for sectionals. Kurt is coming with us too"

"And Puck and I…" Finn said continuing Rachel's sentence. "Are gonna try and beat Artie's score on RockBand,"

"Well if the girls and Kurt are ok with it, I wouldn't mind going with them for a while," James said. "I need some new clothes for this gig on Thursday night,"

"It's ok with us," Said Santana. "As long as you don't mind trawling through girl stuff too,"

"Not a problem," James said. "I have an older sister so I'm used to it," Quinn suddenly punched him on the arm cause James to wince a little in pain. He looked at her with a quizzical look.

"That's for saying I'm out of shape," Quinn said as she put her hands on her hips and a wide smile on her face.

"Has anyone told you that you punch like a girl?" He said still rubbing the spot where she'd hit him also with a wide smile on his face.

"Ok then," Said Finn. "I'll see you guys later," He turned and walked into the arcade. The girls and Kurt suddenly bunched together and started discussing which store they wanted to hit first. James leaned against a nearby railing and rolled his eyes light-heartedly at the "girls" trying to decide.

* * *

_Authors Note: Thanks guys Please review and tell me what you think so far._


	3. His First Slushy

Almost two hours later, they had been through eight clothes shops and found some great ideas for their costumes. James however had only seen a couple of things he liked but nothing he wanted to buy. James was walking behind them all with Kurt happily talking away next to him about some fashion event that would be coming to town in time for Christmas.

James just smiled and gave the occasional answer. They came to a junction in the second floor walkway. James stopped and looked across the walking to the row of stores on the other side.

"Hey guys, I just need to go into that music store," James said. He pointed across the walkway to a store called Electro Music. "You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up," James turned and walked across to the other side. Quinn watched him for just a minute before she turned to the others.

"I'd better go with him so he doesn't get lost," Quinn said. The others said they'd head back to the arcade to meet Finn, Puck and Artie. Quinn nodded and heading across the music store.

The store was relatively small compared to the others. It had different kinds of instruments on show mainly guitars, most of which were hung on the wall. It looked strangely organised considering how many items they had. Everything seemed to have a sticker or a label attached to it on a short piece of string. She looked around and saw the female store clerk stood at the counter dealing with a customer. James stood looking across the different guitars that hung on the wall. James looked over as Quinn walked over to him.

"Hey," He said. "I thought you were going with the others?" Quinn shrugged her shoulders slowly.

"I didn't want you getting lost," She said. James smiled.

"Well aren't you sweet," He just winked at her and she giggled slightly. The store assistant then walked up to them. She was around Quinn's height with brunette hair tied back into a pony tail. Her face was slightly rounded and she wore light coloured glasses over her blue eyes. She also had a small blue stud on the side of her nose.

"Hi I'm Helen, can I help you?" She had a very sweet and soft voice.

"Hey Helen, I'm James," James naturally leaned forward and shook the girl's hand. "I called a couple of days ago about the Gibson?" Helen simply smiled.

"Ahh, the custom silver burst. I just finished lacing it this morning with the strings you asked for. It's in the storeroom, I'll bring it out for you," Helen said as she turned and walked towards the counter. James and Quinn followed her. They both stopped at the counter as Helen vanished into the backroom for a few minutes.

"You're buying a new guitar?" Quinn asked once they were alone.

"Yeah I've got to," James answered. "The airline busted mine up and there was no way it could be repaired. So they've given me the money to buy a replacement,"

"How much did they give you?"

"Four thousand," James answered. Quinn's mouth dropped open at the amount.

"Four thousand dollars for a guitar?" She asked.

"Sentimental value, it belonged to my Dad and it was rare," James sighed. "Shame she got busted up, probably should have left her at home with my sister," Quinn gave him a sympathetic smile.

Just then the door to the storeroom open and Helen came out carrying a black leather guitar case. She placed in on the counter and pushed it towards James with a smile.

"Here you go James," Helen said. "One Gibson Les Paul Custom Silver Burst," James pushed both the buckles on the case and they popped open. He very slowly lifted the lid and the light went into the case. Even Quinn took in a deep breath as she saw it.

"Wow," She said. In the case laid a beautiful perfect looking guitar. The body had a black sleek body with it bursting into a bright silver colour towards the middle. The neck was mahogany with an ebony fingerboard with pearl block inlays and the bridge and the tailpiece were both chrome. It was gorgeous. She laughed to herself. Apparently spending time with Puck and Sam was teaching her a lot about guitars. Quinn looked over and saw James smiling as he ran his hand across the silver strings.

"Absolutely gorgeous," James said softly.

"Would you like to try it out before you buy?" Helen asked.

"Hell yes," James said with a smile. Helen gave a wide grin.

"Well you can try it out on one of the practice amps over there," She pointed to the middle of the store. "Let me know if you need anything," She handed him a quarter inch cable to connect to the amp before she turned to a nearby computer and began entering some details onto a nearby computer.

James walked over to a tiny amp sat in the middle of the room next to a drum set. He connected the guitar to it and sat down on a larger amp next to it. After a few seconds, James began to play a slow song in perfect tone. Quinn watched as James' fingers delicately played across the strings. All the time his eyes were on his left hand as it moved effortlessly to the different chords. James didn't sing, just hummed along with the tune and creating a beat by tapping his foot.

Quinn leaned back against the counter and closed her eyes. She didn't know the song that he was playing but it echoed through her. As James brought the guitar to life, she felt its sounds soak into every part of her body. She breathed in very deeply and sighed. Several minutes passed until James stopped. Quinn slowly opened her eyes and saw James smiling at her.

"Enjoy that?" He asked. He stood up and disconnected the guitar from the amp. He began winding up the cable to hand back to the store clerk.

"Yeah what was the song you were playing?" She asked. James began walking up to her with the guitar and cable in his hands.

"Just a bit of Classical Gas," He said as he delicately placed the guitar back into its case. "Best way to test out a new guitar," Helen came out of the storeroom again with a pleasant smile across her face.

"Is everything ok?" She asked. James reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.

"Perfect Helen," He picked out a bankcard from it and passed it to the clerk. "I'll take it," Helen's grin immediately got so wide it almost touched both of her ears. She must earn commission Quinn thought.#

* * *

Just a few minutes later and they were both leaving the store with James carrying the black guitar case. They walked side by side up the hallway.

"I'm gonna put this in the car before we eat," He said lifting up the case slightly. "Shall I meet you there?"

"I don't mind coming with you," She answered.

"Ok cool," They both smiled at each other and began walking towards the car park. They made it to James' car and James used his keys to open the trunk. He placed the guitar case into the back and was about to close it when Quinn called him.

"James?" She said. He turned to look at her. "How did you end up here in America?" She could see by the way James' smile slowly dropped that it was a sore subject. He looked down at the black surface of the road.

"That's a long story Quinn," He answered slowly. He didn't look up at all. "We're having a good time and I don't want to put a downer on it,"

"I'm sorry James," Quinn regretted asking and gently squeezed his arm. He looked up and she smiled apologetically. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want too,"

"It's ok," He closed the trunk of the car and locked it up.

"We'll if you need someone to talk too, I'm always here," She said with a wide smile. James smiled back.

"Thanks, it's just a little difficult to talk about," He began to walk back towards the mall. Quinn walked at his side. "You know, I just can't put my finger on you,"

"What do you mean?" Quinn asked.

"Well you have this reputation about being high and mighty around school," He said. "Even one girl referred to you as 'FaBitch'," Quinn laughed. She knew who the girl was and knew it was a joke name she had been given while she was head cheerleader.

"Well what do you think?" She asked. "Do you think I'm a bitch like everyone says," James smiled and shrugged his shoulders as they continued to walk.

"I'll tell you one thing," He said raising a finger in the air. "I'd hate to be on the wrong side of you if you were pissed off," He said after a moment. "But you seem alright," Quinn scoffed when he finished his sentence.

"Just alright?" She sounded a little disappointed and looked down at the floor as they walked.

"Well," James answered. "You're very intimidating to be around. I mean your Quinn Fabray. On my first day, I'd only been at your school for less than an hour and someone had told me to stay out of your way…" He laughed. "And that was one of the teachers," Quinn looked up and smiled "But you seem like a good person inside so I guess you're growing on me a little, but I'm sure if you were to flash a few more of those gorgeous smiles of yours, it might help boost my opinion of you,"

"Very smooth," Quinn said with a laugh. James started laughing too.

"Thanks, smooth was what I was aiming for," He said with a wink.

* * *

"Schuester!" Sue shouted as she stuck her head through the choir room doorway. Everyone in the Glee club froze in their spots. Will looked over his shoulder at her.

"Hey Sue, what can I do for you?" He said with sarcasm dripping from every syllable.

"Hallway now!" She said loudly before vanishing out the doorway leaving the door to slam behind her. Will sighed and shook his head.

"Alright guys take a break, I'll be right back," He said as he walked out the door, closing it gently behind him. Everyone started having their own little conversations as they sat down.

Rachel sat on the opposite side of the room from Finn who has now talking to Puck and Santana. Rachel began to subtly thumb his name that hung around her neck. She was still angry with Finn but more disappointed that he'd lied to her. Why didn't Finn just tell her the truth about him and Santana? Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked down at the hand and then followed it up the arm and then saw his smile.

"Hey you ok?" James asked. He was sat on the row of chairs behind her so Rachel turned her body slightly to the side so she was partly facing him. She nodded in answer to his question. "You sure? Cause I've been saying your name for like a minute and you didn't answer,"

"I'm fine, just worried about sectionals I guess," She answered with a faint smile.

"Don't worry about it Rach," He said. He flashed a reassuring smile. "You guys are amazing, we're definitely gonna win,"

"Oh I know," She said softly. "Are you enjoying it here?" She asked hoping to divert James away from what was really bothering her.

"Yeah it's great," He said. "I do miss home though. My sister and my friends,"

"Your parents?" Rachel asked. James suddenly went very quiet and looked away from her. Rachel instantly regretted asking the question, but she had asked instinctively. He sighed and gave a weak smile.

"Yeah them too," He answered softly. James reached up and began to gently rub the silver rings that hung on the chain around his neck.

"I'm sorry," She said. "I didn't mean to upset you,"

"It's ok, it's just a really sensitive subject for me at the minute," He said as he looked up. There was a few moments of silence before James spoke again. "Can you tell Mr. Schue that I'm just popping to the bathroom?" Rachel nodded and James left the room.

She watched as he left with his head down. Rachel felt really bad for James. He was a great guy and had a great attitude that they really needed in the club right now. She spent a few minutes more before she decided to go and see if he was ok. She stood up and walked out the same door that James had. The hallway was deserted as she walked towards the boy's bathroom. As she walked down the corridor, she noticed a blue liquid splattered across the floor.

"Oh no," She said once she realised what had happened. She ran up to the boy's restrooms and rushed in without thinking about it. James was stood in front of the sinks, staring into the mirror with most of the contents of a blue slushy down the front of his khaki shirt. He had wiped most of it from his face but there was still a little in his hair. He reached over and pulled and grabbed a paper towel from the dispenser.

"No don't use those," She said. James looked over to the door and saw her standing in the open doorway. His face went red with embarrassment. "They get all messed up and clump up in your hair. Wait there," She quickly ran back to the choir room and was happy to see that Mr. Schue and Coach Sylvester were still talking outside the room. She darted inside, quickly grabbing her bag and running out again. Quinn noticed this as she spoke with Mercedes.

"I'll be right back Cedes," She said as she followed Rachel out the door. Quinn walked down the corridor and saw Rachel go into the girl's bathroom. A few seconds later, she came out without any of her stuff that she'd took in with her and stuck her head into the boy's bathroom. She withdrew it and James walked out with his clothes soaking wet from a slushy. Rachel grabbed his hand and pulled him into the girl's bathroom. James didn't look up; he just let himself be pulled through the door by the small brunette.

They both disappeared inside and Quinn slowly walked up to the door and slowly pushed it open. She looked in and saw Rachel pull up a nearby chair and faced it away from the sinks. James sat down on the chair as Rachel told him to and she gently pushed his head back over the sink. She began to slowly wash the corn syrup out of his hair.

"I'm sorry," Rachel said. James looked up at her.

"What for?" He asked.

"This was my fault, if I'd not upset you then you wouldn't of had to leave and got slushied,"

"Hey," James answered quickly stopping her from saying anymore. "This wasn't your fault. I'm sure they would have got me sooner or later and you didn't upset me. It's still just a little painful to remember," Quinn leaned forward to try and listen to their conversation. As she did the door squeaked slightly making a sound loud enough for both of them inside to hear.

"Who's there?" Rachel asked. Quinn cursed herself before she pushed open the door.

"Hey Quinnie," James said still with his head bent backwards over the sink. She smiled at him and she was glad to see his smile get a little wider.

"Who got you?" Quinn asked as she walked towards them both.

"The big football guy, can't remember his name,"

"Karofsky?" Rachel said as she poured another cup of water through James' hair.

"Yes him," James said.

"He's just a jerk, are you ok?" She said as she gently placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah I'm good," He smiled back. "I hear that slushy facials are good for your complexion," They all let out a slight laugh. He looked back up at Quinn as she stood by his side. "How are you getting on? Sam still giving you trouble?"

"He called me a couple of times last night when I got home but I didn't want to talk to him," She answered. Both James and Rachel gave her a sympathetic smile.

"I'm sure he's sorry for whatever he did wrong, just tell him you need some time," James said. He quickly looked her up and down. "Why do you girls always wear those Cheerio's uniforms?" Quinn looked down at the red and white uniform she was wearing.

"Well we're proud to be Cheerios" Quinn answered.

"Not to mention, it's a status symbol," Rachel added.

"Ahh well this is what's confusing me," He said. "Everyone in this school hates glee club right?" James looked over at Quinn "So why are you in it then Quinn? You and the other Cheerio's must get a bad reputation for being in glee club,"

"That's a long story," Quinn said as she leaned on the sink next to him. "Basically I joined Glee because I wanted to keep an eye on Finn, who I was dating at the time, and Coach Sylvester needed spies on the inside, but I started to really enjoy being in glee club and so did Brittany and Santana," She took a breath and looked up at Rachel. "I really had a rough time at the end of last year and glee club really got me through it," Rachel smiled at Quinn's comment as she gently poured more water through James hair.

"Thanks you guys," James suddenly said, still with his head leaned back over the sink. They both looked down at him.

"For what?" Rachel asked.

"For being nice to me," He said. He was looking between both of them. "I know that status at this school is very important and I'm the new guy so I appreciate how sweet you girls are being to me,"

"No, we should be thanking you," Quinn said and James looked over at her. When his eyes met hers, they both smiled. "Without you, we wouldn't be able to go to compete at Sectionals and yesterday even though we'd hardly spoken before, you came straight up to see if I was ok when I was upset,"

"Me too," Rachel said. "When I walked into that wall, you were the only one who came straight to my side, helping me and walked me to the nurse's office," Quinn looked up confusingly at Rachel. "James you are very sweet, and were glad to be your friends," Quinn nodded in agreement.

"Well I do try," James said with a hint of swagger. "Besides look at where being nice has got me, I've got you two gorgeous girls looking after me which I am finding quite satisfying. Definitely Karma" He jokingly closed his eyes and loudly sighed.

Rachel looked over at Quinn and raised an eyebrow. Quinn smiled as Rachel filled the cup one more time and poured it straight onto James' face. He immediately began to sputter and cough. The girls started laughing as James jumped up from the chair. With his face dripping wet, he slowly turned with a soft smile. "I pretty sure I'd already washed the slushy off my face Rachel,"

"You must have missed a spot," Quinn said between laughs.

"Ha ha ha, very funny," James reached in his jean's pocket and threw his car keys to Quinn. "Do me a favour and go and get the white gym bag out the back of my car. It's got a change of clothes in it,"

* * *

Quinn quickly came back with the white bag which James immediately began rummaging through finding a white t-shirt to replace the soiled shirt he was wearing. Quinn and Rachel were stood next to each other near the mirrors as James began to strip off his shirt. He swiftly undid the buttons from the top to the bottom. He opened the shirt exposing his bare chest underneath. He had a little bit of dark hair across his chest and there was a faint hint of a six pack across his abs. The skin was pale compared to his arms which obviously saw more sun that his stomach and chest. He had a small tribal tattoo on the left side of his lower stomach just above his groin which was partially hidden by his pants.

Quinn and Rachel were both staring at him. They watched as James put the soiled shirt into a plastic bag and threw it near his gym bag. He stepped up to a sink and ran the cold water before looking at himself in the mirror. He took off the necklace around his neck and while holding the two rings between his fingers, he gently washed them under the tap. After a few seconds, he placed them back around his neck, but down his back rather than his chest. He then used his hands to scoop up some water and placed it against his chest. A few droplets of water ran down his flat stomach as he gently rubbed what was left into his chest to stop the slushy from hopefully not getting too sticky on his skin.

Quinn gently bit the corner of her lip subconsciously as she watched him. She began to feel butterflies in her stomach and swallowed the excess saliva that had appeared in her mouth. James looked over at them both and they both instantly smiled after taking in a sharp intake of breath. James smiled back.

"Do you have something I can dry myself with?" He asked. Rachel suddenly jumped to life and moved towards him and the bag she had brought with her. She leant down next to him while occasionally glancing up as she rummaged through her bag. She pulled out a turquoise towel that was rolled up into a tube and handed it to him. He thanked her before he quickly dried himself off and slipped into his white t-shirt.

The t-shirt was loose and had a black trim around the short sleeves, waist and collar. Also on the right hand sleeve was a sewn on union jack flag which bent around the arm along the cuff of the sleeve. He quickly used some water to mess up his hair and curled the bangs of his fringe so they curved just above his right eye. He then pulled on the necklace that was still hidden around his back and over the front of his t-shirt. Quickly it was back where it belonged, hanging in front of his chest proudly. He looked quickly at the mirror before turning to the two girls. "How do I look?" He asked.

Quinn was still silent from watching him change to notice he was talking. Rachel however was quick to answer.

"You look great, you have amazing muscle structure. What's your workout routine?" She asked. James was a little took back how eager she was but quickly smiled.

"I don't really have one now," He began to pack up his gym back with the plastic bag that had his soiled shirt in it. He also began to fold the towel he had used. "I just used to play rugby and football back home so that kept me pretty healthy," James looked over at Quinn who had been silent since she'd come back with his bag. "Quinn you ok?" Quinn suddenly snapped back to reality at the mention of her name.

"What?" She asked stuttering on the first couple of letters.

"Seemed to of spaced out a bit there Quinnie, you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine," She answered quickly. He gave her a confused smile.

"Well we'd better get back to the choir room," Rachel said. Quinn and James both agreed. James picked up both his and Rachel's bag and passed it to her.

"Well thanks for helping me ladies," He said. Rachel flashed her 100 watt smile and Quinn smirked.

"You're a fellow glee member, you are more than welcome" Rachel said. She put the strap over her shoulder and James did the same for his bag. They all stepped out of the girl's bathroom and began walking back towards the choir room down the hall. James was in the middle with Quinn on right and Rachel on his left.

"Oh, did you find an outfit for your show tomorrow night?" Quinn asked.

"Yeah, Jessica sent me an email last night with the set list on it," He said as they walked through the door back into the choir room. "She also put some pictures on it of what they all were wearing, so I got a brilliant idea," He stopped talking as they sat down. Mr. Schue was still outside talking with Sue so the students were all still chatting to each other.

"So what did you decide on?" Rachel asked. James looked at her with a smirk.

"Ahh well you'll have to wait and see," James said playfully. His face suddenly lit up with a big smile. "Why don't you guys come tomorrow night to the show?" Rachel and Quinn both looked at each other for a moment.

"Where is it?" Quinn asked.

"It's at The Warehouse club on Elida Road,"

"That's a nightclub, we'll never get in," Quinn said.

"No you will," James answered. "They know that most of the fans are teenagers so you can go but you just can't buy booze without an ID,"

"Sounds like fun," Quinn said. Rachel nodded.

"Yeah, you should invite everyone," She said.

"That's a great idea Rach," James said just as Mr. Schue came back in.

"Sorry about that guys, where were we?" He said as he walked into the center of the room.

"Mr Schuster?" Rachel said after she had put her hand up.

"Yes Rachel?" He answered.

"James would like to say something," Everyone looked over at him. James nervously began to speak.

"Well as some of you know, I'm going to be performing with The Crystals tomorrow night and I'd like to invite anyone who'd like to come," There was a couple moments of silence before someone spoke.

"What kind of music is it?" asked Sam. James looked over at him.

"They mainly do punk and rock music," He moved around slightly in his chair as he spoke. "But from their set list it looks like they've decided to do a few covers as well,"

"Cool, I'll definitely go. What time does it start?" Finn asked.

"We'll be on stage around nine," James said with a smile. "I think that there might be some other small bands on as well as openers. It should be a good show though," James answered. "What do you think Mr. Schue?"

Will leant back against the piano with a wide smile on his face. "I think it's a fantastic idea," He said as he looked across his students. "This will be fantastic way for you guys to relax and also support one of your friends," Everyone seemed to nod their heads in agreement.

"You coming too Mr. Schue?" Finn asked.

"Wish I could Finn, but I'm got a lot of papers to mark by the end of the week, but you guys should go and have fun," He answered. "Not too much fun though," He warned with a smile.

"Ok well I'll get your names on the door so you'll get straight in rather than wait and that way, you shouldn't have to pay either," James said from his seat. Will looked at the clock on the wall.

"Well its almost end of class so there's not much else we can do, so I'll let you guys have another five minutes amongst yourselves and then you can go to lunch," He said. Everyone began talking in their little groups again.

"Can I go put something in my car Mr. Schue?" James asked politely.

"Yes of course," Mr. Schue answered. James stood up, picking up both his gym bag and his normal messenger bag.

"I'll see ya later then guys," He said to everyone as he left. Quinn and Rachel talked to each other about little things to count down the time. They both seem to of forgotten that just a few days ago they were arguing about Quinn and Sam getting the leads at Sectionals.

* * *

_Authors note: thanks_ guys. _Please review and tell me what you think. More tomorrow._


	4. Anticipation

The first thing she felt was the kisses on her neck. Gentle lingering kisses that begun to spread deep warmth through her soft pale skin. She couldn't help but let a soft moan escape from her lips as the kisses settled into the nook between her neck and her collarbone. She felt a tender bite on her skin and she quickly took in a breath as she bit her lower lip in response. She began to feel a familiar warmth spread between her legs as the kisses began to go lower.

The lips moved down onto her chest and between her bare breasts. They stopped for just a second, planting a long kiss just above where her heart was. Her heart replied from underneath the skin by beating faster. She saw the lips turn upwards into a smile as they felt her increased heartbeat pulsate through her skin. The lips began their journey south again and her body began to tremble in anticipation as the kisses reached her navel. She felt a tongue softly swirl around her belly button, tickling her tender skin.

She looked down and saw those dark brown eyes looking back at her, filled with a burning desire. She knew that her eyes were also burning with the same desire. She wanted him. She needed him. She reached down, placing a soft hand on his cheek and pulled his face back up to hers. As they came face to face, he smiled that amazing smile which she had grown to adore.

"You look beautiful," He whispered as he carefully pushed a lock of her blonde hair from her face. She said nothing as she placed her arms around the back of his neck and pulled him into a long deep kiss. After a few long moments, she gently bit his lower lip and she heard him moan deep in his throat. She giggled before moving round and began to nibble on his earlobe as he began kissing her neck again.

"I love you James," She whispered.

* * *

Quinn bolted from her sleep, gasping for breath. Her heart was racing and it took her a minute to calm down. After a while, her breathing went back to normal and she rested against the headboard of her bed. She stared out of the window for a second, watching a few raindrops gently run down the pane of glass. As she did, she ran over the dream again in her head. It had felt so real, like James was really there. It was like she could still feel his intense body heat next to her. Feel his rough lips against hers.

How could she feel like this? Did she really like James? The questions floated around her mind. In her dream she had said she loved him. She'd only known him for a few days. How can she love him? Sure, he was sweet and that's maybe why she mostly liked him.

"Wait, what?" she said to herself. Mostly like him? No other guy in school was like him. He was sweet, smart and amazingly handsome. Suddenly her cell phone buzzed as a text message came in cutting off her train of thought. She reached over and lifted it up so she could just see the screen. Sam's name came up.

"_**Hey Quinn, I just want to say how sorry I am. I'm gonna let you have some space. I'll wait as long as you need."**_

Quinn sighed when she finished reading. Sam was also sweet and she knew he was sorry, she barely remembered what he had even said. But she just didn't want to near him right now. He was right; she just needed a little time. She smiled slightly as she sent a thank you back.

Her relationship with Sam had started off innocent enough, but now it was about popularity. He was on the football team and she was a cheerleader. They were the 'it' couple at McKinley High and that's what she liked. A million more thoughts were flowing through her head, but her body was crying for sleep. She was fast asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

* * *

"Alright guys," Mr Schue said. His voice echoed towards the stage of the auditorium. Everyone looked up at him from their dance positions, as they were finishing off their routine for Valerie by Amy Winehouse. Santana was leading the vocals and she was nailing all of them perfectly. "Take a break guys, then we'll have another half an hour at it before we call it a day,"

Brittany and Santana almost instantly were sat on the edge of the stage and chatting away about something to do with ducks. Quinn modestly smiled at Sam who was stood at the side of her. She kept eye contact for just a second before walking off to talk to Mercedes who was sat on the step that stretched across the middle of the stage catching her breath. Quinn took a seat next to her left and they also began talking.

"What you wearing for tonight?" Quinn asked. Quinn smiled at herself thinking about The Crystals and James' show.

"Well I was thinking I'd wear my outfit that I wore for the Boy's vs. Girls' competition," Mercedes answered. "It is a rock show after all and I look mighty fine in all that leather," Quinn smiled.

"That you do Cedes," She answered with a laugh. "I could wear mine too minus the bandana, of course."

"Yeah. Why did you even wear that in the first place?" Mercedes asked. Quinn was about to answered when she was interrupted.

"Hey ladies," James said as he walked up with his bag and a bottle of water in his hand. Quinn and Mercedes both looked up however Quinn was the only one who suddenly couldn't speak.

"Hey James," Mercedes said with a smile. All Quinn could do was softly smiled at him.

"Mind if I join you?" He asked pointing to the vacant area of step next to them.

"Of course not," Mercedes said. He smiled and sat down to the right to her. "How you feeling about tonight?" She asked. "You nervous?" Quinn leaned slightly forward so she could see James as he was partially blocked by Mercedes sitting between them.

"I'm ok I guess," He shrugged his shoulders slightly. "I went to practice with the band last night and it went really well. Guess I am a little nervous but that's good for the build-up," He lifted his right hand to them. "Here look," his hand was slightly trembling.

"You're shaking?" Quinn asked as her voice suddenly came back to her.

"Yeah, it always happens before something like this," He moved his hand back down to his side. "It gets worse as it gets closer to the show or whatever. Don't know what it is but I don't actually feel nervous in my head," He sighed gently. "I just know I should be nervous because of how bad my hand shakes,"

"Won't that affect how you play tonight?" Mercedes asked. James simply shook his head.

"No matter what happens, it always goes away and then I know that's the right moment to get to it," James smiled. Quinn smiled and thought about how adorable that little quirk was. "So who's coming tonight? I need the list to give to the door guys," They all looked out among the other Glee members.

"Well I know Artie's not coming," Mercedes said. She pointed to Artie who was sat in his wheelchair watching Finn mess around on the drum set in the corner of the stage.

"Oh, why not?" Quinn asked.

"He told me earlier," James answered just as Mercedes was about to answer Quinn herself. "Said something about being forced into a family night at home,"

"Finn is going," Quinn said. "He put it on his Facebook status this morning,"

"That reminds me," James said. "Must remember to add everyone,"

"Ah well if he's going then Rachel will probably be going as well," Mercedes said as she pointed to the small brunette sat on the other end of the step, staring saddened at Finn as he playing different beats on the drums.

"Yep she is," James said. "She messaged me last night on Facebook to make sure I definitely put her name down and to give me advice on how to draw in the audience on stage," James said with a laugh.

Quinn felt a slight prang of jealousy that James might be talking to Rachel more than her. She started to think that maybe James liked Rachel. Maybe he liked brunettes and not blondes. Quinn shook her head to get rid of the thought.

"Brittany and Santana are going because they've been asking me what I'm wearing all day," Quinn said trying to get the topic away from Rachel.

"And if Santana's going then so is Puck," Mercedes added as she looked around the stage for him, but he seemed to of vanished probably to try and sneak off somewhere.

"What about Mike and Tina?" James asked. Both Quinn and Mercedes both shook their heads.

"I'm not sure," Mercedes said. Tina and Mike were quietly talking near the front of the stage. Well actually it looked like Mike was talking away and Tina was just ignoring him.

"Although by the looks of it," Quinn said. "Right now might not be the best time to ask them. I'll ask Tina later and let you know,"

"Thanks Quinn," James said as he began rustling through his bag. He pulled out a small piece of paper and a pen.

"Oh and I invited Kurt along as well," Mercedes added. "Hope you don't mind?" James looked up and simply smiled that brilliant smile of his. Quinn felt her knees going slightly weak at the sight of it. She thanked god that they were all sat down else someone might have noticed the slight tremble.

"Oh course not," James answered. He began scribbling something down the paper as he spoke. "Kurt is awesome. Quinn?" She looked at him trying to give him the same smile he was giving her. He passed her the paper. "You guys have any trouble getting in, give me a call," The piece of paper had his cell phone number delicately written down in almost perfect handwriting.

Suddenly Mr. Schue spoke up from his seat. Quinn quickly stuffed the piece of paper into the pocket of her Cheerio's jacket.

"Alright guys. Let's get back to it,"

* * *

The afternoon seemed to fly by to Quinn. The weather was fantastic considering it was late November. The sun was gleaming down on the football field and she had Cheerio's practice all afternoon. Even with Coach Sylvester constantly belittling them about their performance, which Quinn thought was their best yet, time was skipping by and it was now home time.

"You think this is hard, I spent two years as a Japanese prison of war! That's hard!" She shouted into her bullhorn. "Hit the showers," Everyone slowly drifted off the field. Most of them were exhausted from the ruthless sets that Sue had put them through, but not Quinn.

Quinn had a strange sense of excitement causing through her veins. She practically skipped to her locker to pick up her bag with a wide smile on her face. She quickly grabbed her bag and walked out to meet her Mother who was parked in the car park just a few spaces from a certain black Audi 4x4. The rest of the car park was deserted apart from a few of the teacher's cars that were parked near the front of the school.

She waved to her Mother who was stood next to her car having a quick cigarette. When she saw Quinn, Judy quickly drew in a last breath before she dropped it to the floor and stubbed out the cigarette with her foot. She blew out the last of the smoke before Quinn got close to the car.

"Did you have a good day dear?" Judy asked her daughter. Quinn smiled.

"Yeah, it was alright," Quinn said. She opened the door to the small saloon car and slid into the passenger seat. Her mother dropped into the driver's seat.

"You seem a little happier today," Her mother said as she placed the keys into the ignition. Quinn gave her a sideways glance. "With all the moping around you've been doing the last few days, I was beginning to get a little worried you might be pregnant again,"

"Mom!" Quinn shouted. Judy instantly gave her an apologetic smile. She knew her mother was still a strong Christian even after the split from Quinn's father.

"Sorry Quinn," She said.

"I just had an argument with Sam that's all," Quinn said with a slight tone that told her mother not to ask about it. Luckily, Judy picked up on this.

"Ahh well I'm glad you've cheered up," Judy said with a smile to her daughter. Quinn gave her a faint smile back. "So what's the plan for tonight?" Judy asked.

"I'm going to a show with Glee club, James is going to be playing," Quinn said absentmindedly as she looked through her bag.

"James?" Judy said sounding intrigued as she put on her seatbelt prompting her daughter to do the same. "Never heard you mention him before?"

"Just a new guy," Quinn answered trying to sound as uninterested as she could but the truth was she was interested. She still didn't know exactly what her feelings were for James. Her subconscious had been putting him in nearly every dream she had over the past few nights. They hadn't been as intimate as her first dream about him that she'd had. Maybe she did like him. Most of the guys in school saw her as an opportunity to get to the top of the social ladder. James didn't care about the social ladder. Being in glee club put him at the bottom and that's where he was. James was cool in his own right just like glee was. Glee club was cool in its own right.

Judy started up the car and began to pull out of the parking spot. Quinn looked up through the windshield and saw James walking between a few cars towards his that was parked just a few down from where they were. He had his bag thrown over his shoulder and he was looking through his mobile phone. His brown hair bounced eloquently as he quickly walked through the car park. Quinn was watching him so closely that she barely heard her mother speak.

"Is he cute?" Judy asked. After a few moments she realised what her mother had said.

"Mom, I'm dating Sam remember," Judy raised her eyebrows at her daughter as if waiting for an answer from her. Quinn laughed a little at her mother's persistence. Quinn looked back just as they drove past James walking the other way. "Ok yes, he is amazingly cute."

Judy began to softly chuckle as she pulled out the car park and onto the street. All Quinn could do was smile as she placed her hand into her jacket pocket and felt the torn edge of the piece of paper he had given her.

* * *

_Authors note: Sorry its only a short chapter. Just to let you know I'm waiting for my Beta reader to get back to me with the next part so it might be a while before it gets updated. I'm hoping it won't be long. Please review guys. Let me know what you think!_


	5. The Show!

_Authors note: Hey guys. I'm sorry its been so long since I updated. I actually lost my Beta reader due to college so I was hoping to finish it before I posted anymore. However, when I've looked back over the stuff, It just all seems ready to go so I thought I'd post a little more for my loyal fans._

_I wanna thank everyone for thier reviews so far and especially emilylauren. She's been really helpful. You should go read her Glee fics if you haven't. She's a really good writer._

_FYI **Bold Text** in my stories are normally text messages. Enjoy!_

* * *

_**Hey James its Quinn just got a message from Tina. She and Mike are definitely coming tonight. You ok?**_

She typed the message into her phone and quickly sent it to the contact she'd created earlier under James' name.

"Who are you texting Q?" Brittany asked from the side of her. They were walking down Main Street, passing all the various grocery stores. Santana looked back with a slight curiosity but within moments her eyes were back looking forward. For some reason she was walking faster than the other two.

"James. Just letting him know that Tina and Mike were coming," Answering the taller blonde's question. All three were wearing their tight leather outfits from their mash up of Start me up and Living on a Prayer that they'd performed for the recent Boy's Vs. Girls competition. It seemed like everyone was stealing Mercedes' outfit idea. All she could say was that they were getting some pretty intense looks for most of the guys they passed on the street. A few minutes later her phone beeped.

_**Hey Quinnie, Cool I've already put them down on the list anyway just encase. Yeah I'm fine. Just arrived at the club. There's a massive queue to get in outside. It's gonna be packed.**_

"What did he say?" Brittany asked. Quinn smiled once she had finished reading. It sounded like James was a little anxious about the crowd tonight. She showed Brittany the message. She quickly read it and a huge grin spread across her face. "He calls you Quinnie, that's so cute. I kind of like it actually, it suites you Quinnie," Brittany laughed and Quinn just shook her head before typing a response to his message.

_**Someone sounds a little nervous? Lol**_

At this point Santana, who was just a few feet ahead of them, looked back over her shoulder.

"Will you two hurry up I'm freezing my well-shaped ass off here," She said.

"How can you be cold with all that sexy looking leather on?" Brittany said. Quinn's phone beeped again.

_**Nope my hand is steady as a rock lol**_

Brittany leant over trying to read the message. Quinn began to type a response as she spoke.

"He's a little nervous,"

"Why?" Britt asked. "He's gonna be awesome," Quinn smiled at Brittany as she erased what she was going to send and typed in something new.

_**Well don't worry about it. Brittany says you're going to be awesome.**_

They turned onto Elida Road but they still had a fair distance to walk as the club was halfway down the street. They could see all the lights from the club though; it seemed enough to make the whole street bright. Quinn's phone beeped again.

_**Tell her she's sweet and I hope she's right. I'm just glad you guys are coming so at least someone will like me.**_

"He says thanks Brittany, and that you're sweet," Brittany giggled and began jumping up and down as she walked. Quinn rolled her eyes before reading the message again. This was going to be tough on James until he went out on stage. She tried to imagine the pressure that must have been on him right now. He was about to go out and perform with a band in front of an entire club filled with their devoted fans. Despite it all, Quinn knew he would do it. He would go out there and perform at his best because he wasn't doing this for himself; it was for the girls in the band and their fans. It was the same with glee club; James had joined because he wanted to help. Wanted them to win and they couldn't without a twelfth member. As these thoughts rumbled through her head, she also thought about what to message back to him. After a few moments she typed her response.

_**Nah. Play as well as you did in the music store and they're gonna love you. Trust me.**_

As they got closer to the club, Quinn could see that James was right; the queue to get in was massive. At least a hundred people, if not more. Her phone beeped again.

_**Well you're Quinn Fabray so if you say so it must be true lol**_

She read it and the smile on her lips got wider. James had a real knack for making her smile. She knew instantly what to send back and she quickly keyed it into the reply box.

_**You'd better believe it mister. Lol**_

Puck was the first to see them from across the street. He put two fingers in his mouth and blew a loud whistle. Quite a few people including Brittany, Santana and Quinn heard it and looked over to where it had come from. Once the three girls realised it was Puck they walked across the street which seemed to be dead of all traffic. He was stood with Sam, Rachel, Mercedes, Kurt and Tina. As they walked up to the group, Quinn's eyes were on Sam. He looked back at her and calmly smiled and nodded his head.

"Hey guys," Brittany said as they walked up. "This is gonna be amazing. Have you seen how many people are queuing to get in?" Puck snorted.

"That's just the people trying to get in. The place is already packed out inside. There's at least 300 people in there already. It's gonna be sweet,"

"Who are we waiting for?" Quinn asked noticing that the group was short a few people.

"Finn and Mike are inside," Tina answered as she pointed towards the diner behind them. "They're just using the bathroom and getting some hot coffee in case we're in that line for a while," The door to the diner opened and Mike came out holding two small polystyrene cups followed briefly by Finn who was carrying the same. Quinn's phone suddenly beeped again.

_**Oh completely forgot to say when you guys get here, don't stand in the queue, go and see the bouncer on the door with the clipboard. Tell him your names and he'll sort you out to get in.**_

Quinn laughed and showed her phone to Brittany. Once she'd read it, she began to clap excitedly.

"James has saved us again, were not gonna be cold,"

"What?" Rachel asked looking between the two blondes.

"James says we don't need to stand in the queue, we can go straight in," Quinn answered putting her phone back in her pocket. "He says to go and talk to the bouncer with the clipboard when were ready,"

"I'm seriously starting to like that guy," Mike said as he handed one of the cups he had to Tina.

"Did you bring them Puck?" They all heard Santana ask. Puck suddenly had an evil grin on his face as he pulled two small bottles of vodka slightly from his coat pockets giving them all a small peak. "That's my man," She said.

"What's that for?" Tina asked.

"Thought we could all buy coke or lemonade and mix it so we can add to the fun!" Puck answered. Quinn and Rachel both rolled their eyes at the same time.

"Everybody ready?" Finn asked looking over everyone as he threw his empty cup into a nearby trashcan. Mike and Tina finished off their coffee as well and threw their cups into the same bin.

A few moments later, all eleven of them were walking across the street to the club. You could clearly see thought the large plate glass windows that it was already pretty crowded inside. One of the opening bands was playing but the crowd was showing very little enthusiasm. At the front door, there were four doormen stood around, two directly by the doors and two monitoring the line. As in the classic style of bouncers they were all wearing matching leather jackets with the clubs name on the back. The only one with a clipboard was stood near the front of the line. Rachel being the captain of the glee club walked ahead of the others. As they approached, the doorman looked up.

"Can I help you?" He asked in a surprising pleasant smile.

"Yes we're on the list," Rachel said.

"Ok, what's your name?"

"Rachel Berry," He slowly looked down the list, flipping over to a second page after reaching the bottom.

"Yep, here you are in a group of eleven?"

"Yeah were all here," She said pointing to her friends behind her. The doorman quickly looked over them.

"Ok," He pulled out a pen and ticked off her name. "What are the other names?" Rachel told him all their names and he ticked them off one by one. Once they were all ticked off on his list, he called to one of the other bouncers near the door who quickly walked up. "Johnny, these are our VIP's for tonight. Get them stamped and take them up to the first VIP room overlooking the stage," Johnny nodded and headed back to the door.

The first doorman turned back to Rachel and the others. "Follow him and he'll show you the way to the VIP area,"

"Thank you," Rachel said before they all headed into the club. As they entered the foyer of the club the music got suddenly louder although it was still blocked by the second set of doors that led to the main room. The foyer was dark with a few strategically placed plants and a strong silver cast iron spiral staircase in the corner near the second set of doors. Behind a counter in the foyer was a girl working the coat room. She was a tall skinny girl with short blonde hair done into a bob with a few blue streaks. She couldn't have been older than sixteen.

"Carla," Johnny said. "VIP stamp please," The girl smiled and reached under the counter pulling out a small rubber stamp.

"These must be James' friends," Carla said as she outstretched her hand to Rachel. Rachel smiled back and placed her hand into Carla's. Carla gently stamped the back of Rachel's hand with a green VIP symbol. After a few minutes, everyone had a stamp on their hand. "Enjoy the show guys," Carla said as Johnny led them up the spiral stair case. The stairway led to a corridor with windows on the left that overlooked the main room. At the end, the corridor turned a corner which led to another longer corridor with several doors on the left side. Johnny led them right to the end to the last door and opened it up before gesturing inside. They all slowly stepped into the massive room. Inside was a slanted room with several rows of seats with steps along the side. They reminded Quinn of the seats at a baseball game only they looked much more comfortable being fully cloth seats rather than plastic. The back of the room had a massive flat area that was carpeted with a lush deep maroon carpet that had a couple of booths with tables in the centre obviously intended for people to hide from view. However from anywhere in this room you could get a perfect view of the stage where the current band was playing some lame rock anthem where some of the crowd were mildly singing along. The stage was about the same size as the auditorium's stage back at McKinley; however this one had an extra part in the centre that stretched out into the crowd so that singers could interact with the crowd better.

"Ok this is your VIP room for the night. You can go downstairs to the main floor if you like but you'll need your stamp when you come back up here," Johnny said as he stood in the doorway. "Follow the signs in the corridor for the bathrooms and one of the bar staff will come up shortly to sort out your drinks. If you have any problems, let us know," Everyone thanked him before he turned and walked off back down the corridor.

"This is awesome!" Brittany said as she ran up to the rail in front of the chairs and looked down over the crowd. "You can see everything from here, even down girl's shirts," Everyone laughed at her as they began to sit down on the front row. There was more than enough room along the front for all of them with a few seats to spare. The glee members all began chatting amongst themselves as they waited for the real show to start.

* * *

The current band, which were called something like 'The Outsteppers', finished up their final song to very little applause from the audience and dark curtains closed to hide the back part of the stage. Quinn pulled out her phone and sent a quick message to James.

_**Break a leg!**_

Just then a young dark haired girl wearing one of the Warehouse t-shirts stepped into the room and walked up to the front row of seats.

"Hey guys, James says your first round of drinks are on him so what will it be?" She pulled out a small notebook. They all ordered coke or lemonade and the girl left with a smile. She came back after a few minutes with a tray with all their drinks on. Soon they were all sat with their various drinks, most of them with a quick shot of vodka from Puck.

Suddenly the lights in the entire room went off and the room went pitch black. The crowd below them began to mumble in anticipation. After a few minutes a spotlight shined down from directly above on the end of the extended stage. Stood in the light was a microphone stand. The crowd fell silent as the light appeared which was only showing the end of the stage and nothing more. There was literally no sound coming from the stage at all until some loud clicks that sounded like a woman's high heels as they walked across the wooden floor. They were slow and steady. The light over the microphone suddenly went out and the room went into darkness again. A few seconds later, it came back on once again cascading light down over the end of the extended stage only this time stood with the microphone was a girl. She had medium blonde hair in waves which floated down over her shoulders. She was wearing a black and green corset which had a trailing piece of green cloth hanging down the back of her amazing looking legs. The top of her legs were barely covered by a short black skirt. She had however covered her legs with stockings but only up to the thigh and opting for black stylish high heel shoes. When the crowd saw her, they went crazy and the cheers echoed loudly off the walls. However the girl did nothing but look over the crowd for what seemed like several minutes before she simply raised her hand, causing the crowd to slowly go quiet. Everything else was still dark, and she was the only thing visible on the stage. She leaned into the microphone and gently breathed in and out before she spoke.

"Hit it," She said seductively. As if by command, the music and the lights abruptly came on filling both the room with sound and the stage with light. The rest of the band was stood on the stop of the stage with the drums sat in the middle on a slightly raised platform and the bass and the guitar on the left and right of it. The bass was being played by a short girl with her short black hair done into an emo bob style with blue highlights while the girl on the drums hair was also short but in a crop style with multiple colours in it. They were both wearing similar corsets to the blonde haired singer but in different colours and slightly different styles to show their individuality. James was stood on the right of the drums with his guitar, concentrating on his fingering which sounded perfect combined with the others. He was wearing a dark tight fitting waistcoat with a white shirt underneath it with the sleeves turned up to just above his elbow. A set of black formal pants and black loafer shoes covered his bottom half. His simple outfit was finished off with a thin black tie which was tucked into his waistcoat and a brown belt with a silver belt buckle. This matched the girl's outfits perfectly. His hair was the same as always. Ruffled up and with the fringe swept across his forehead. And of course in his hands was that perfect looking Gibson Les Paul Custom Silver Burst.

_Ah, ah ah  
You're so good to me baby, baby_

The blonde girl sang the words perfectly and the crowd began to cheer and sing along with her as they moved to the quick beat of the music.

_I wanna lock you up in my closet when no one's around  
I wanna put your hand in my pocket because you're allowed  
I wanna drive you into the corner and kiss you without a sound  
I wanna stay this way forever I'll say it loud_

_Now you're in, and you can't get out_

The music got slower as the chorus started.

_You make me so hot  
Make me wanna drop  
It's so ridiculous  
I can barely stop  
I can hardly breathe  
You make me wanna scream  
You're so fabulous  
You're so good to me baby, baby  
You're so good to me baby, baby_

The girl that was singing pulled the microphone from the stand. She turned and walked up to the other band members as she continued to sing.

_I can make you feel all better, just take it in  
And I can show you all the places you've never been  
And I can make you say everything that you've never said  
And I will let you do anything again and again_

_Now you're in, and you can't get out_

As she began to sing the chorus again, she walked up to James and began to dance against him as he continued to play his part, never faltering his chords.

_You make me so hot  
Make me wanna drop  
It's so ridiculous  
I can barely stop  
I can hardly breathe  
You make me wanna scream  
You're so fabulous  
You're so good to me baby, baby  
You're so good to me baby, baby_

She then went back to the centre of the stage and placed the microphone into another stand there as the song slowed again.

_Kiss me gently  
Always I know  
Hold me, love me  
Don't ever go  
Ooh, yeah yeahhhhh_

After a few seconds of holding the last note the whole band began to sing along for the last chorus.

_You make me so hot  
Make me wanna drop  
It's so ridiculous  
I can barely stop  
I can hardly breathe  
You make me wanna scream  
You're so fabulous  
You're so good to me baby, baby  
You're so good to me baby, baby_

The music stopped and the blonde singer sang the last bit on her own.

_You're so good…_

The crowd erupted in applause and cheers as the song ended. After around ten seconds, the band began playing the beginning of another song. The rhythm was a little quicker on this one than the last. The blonde pulled the microphone from the stand and began to speak as she walked out to the end of the extended part of the stage where she had first appeared.

"Thank you guys, as most of you know we are The Crystals," Her voice was soft even over the speaker system. "But I see a few new faces out there tonight..," She mockingly looked out over the crowd with a hand above her eyes. "So do you want to meet the band?" The crowd cheered in response. The girl's smile widened. "I didn't quiet hear that," She said as she placed a hand over her ear. The crowd screamed louder. The girl laughed. "I think you can do better than that," She was provoking them. The crowd screamed even louder causing her to laugh again. "That's much better," She waved to the band behind her and the brunette bassist walked towards her while still playing her instrument. "On bass, as you can see now walking towards me, showing off those sensually shaped legs of hers is the absolutely gorgeous Charlotte Miller," When Charlotte was close enough; the blonde put her arm around her shoulder. "Show them what you can do Charl," Charlotte smiled and began to play a really quick solo on the bass which sounded amazing causing the crowd to cheer and whistle as she played. Once she was done, the blonde girl whooped into the microphone. "Awesome Charl, think they liked it," Charlotte smiled and walked back to her spot on the stage. "On the drums…" The blonde pointed up into back of the stage. "Is my younger sister Tara but we just call her 'Baby'," The crowd cheered as Baby went into a long drum solo which was startlingly quick paced for a drummer. After she had finished, the crowd exploded into louder cheers and the blonde spoke into the microphone. "Give it up for my baby sister guys," The crowd were still applauding her. "I'm the ever dangerous and sexy, Jessica Kingsley. I do the vocals and a little guitar when I'm needed," She then walked back onto the main stage and gently took James' hand which obviously stopped him from playing. "Now some of you know we started as an all-girl band," As Jessica spoke; she pulled James towards the extended part of the stage. "But one of our band mates left us just a week ago, and we were seriously worried that we would have to cancel this gig tonight," Jessica paused for dramatic effect and the crowd booed. "But we didn't want to let our fans down so we desperately began searching for a replacement, hoping we'd be able to find one so we could do this show for you guys tonight. And just three days ago, an angel was delivered to us who could not only shred some serious strings, but also could learn the songs quickly. So tonight, just so you guys wouldn't have to be stuck at home, All the way from Sheffield, England, the newest member of The Crystals, James Phoenix!" She pointed to him stood next to her and the crowd's cheers seemed to shake the bricks and cement the walls were made of. James had a massive smile on his face and he was waving to the crowd. After a few seconds, he looked up at the VIP box where the other glee members were sat and gave them quick thumbs up and a wink to which they all cheered and whooped back at him. Brittany was particularly loud.

"We love you James!" She screamed.

"Introduce the next song James and show the crowd what you can do," Jessica said over the microphone as she took a step back giving him the audience's full attention. James nodded to her. He hit a quick cord on his guitar and held it for what seemed like an eternity. The crowd went quiet which was obviously which was why he was doing it. He started off slow, hitting just long notes and holding them for as long as he could. After a few of these, he sped up and wowed the audience with an amazing solo. The crowd was captivated by him. Every intricate chord he played made the crowd cheer. Quinn smiled to herself as she thought. Brittany had been right, he was awesome. The tune slowly, as he played it became familiar to them. Baby began to back James up with her drums and Charlotte started up on her bass. Jessica then began to sing as James moved back to his place on the stage.

_It's a new day, but it all feels old  
It's a good life, that's what I'm told  
But everything, it all just feels the same  
At my high school, it felt more to me  
Like a jail cell, a penitentiary  
My time spent there, it only made me see_

The whole band began to sing into their microphones to build up to the chorus.

_That I don't ever wanna be like you_  
_I don't wanna do the things you do_  
_I'm never gonna hear the words you say_  
_and I don't ever wanna, I don't ever wanna be_

The people in the crowd were jumping up and down with their hands in the air.

_You...don't wanna be just like you  
Oh what I'm sayin' is this is the anthem, throw all your hands up,  
you... don't wanna be you  
_

* * *

The show went on for another hour and half and The Crystals had just finished their eighth song of the night. They had done a few of their own songs in the middle of the setlist before Jessica had announced to thunderous cheers that they would be showing tribute to some of the gods of rock and punk music. They had played GreenDay, Blink 182, Bon Jovi and of course, the mother of all female rock singers, Joan Jett. Now it looked like they were gearing up for their last song.

"They're pretty good," Tina said in whisper to Quinn who was sat next to her.

"Yeah they are," Quinn answered. Rachel who was sat on the other side of Quinn leaned over and whispered too.

"They certainly seem to have a lot of talent," She said. "I'm not normally a fan of this kind of music but I think they are great performers," Quinn and Tina both nodded. Tina went to say something else but she was interrupted.

"Thanks guys," Jessica said from the stage to the audience. She was out of breath and taking occasional drinks from a water bottle. "You really have been an amazing audience tonight but sadly this is going to be our last song," She placed the bottle down next to her feet and placed the microphone back into the stand. "We were able to do this show tonight because of one person," She turned and pointed to James who was also drinking water. "That amazing guy right there," The crowd cheered and whistled. James held up his bottle in the air as they did. "Now me and the other girls here think that it's not only fair that the last song of the night be one of James' favourites," She looked back once again at him with a mischievous grin. "But he should also be the one to sing it for ya," James' mouth dropped open in shock showing that he obviously knew nothing about it.

"No way!" Brittany said before she jumped up and practically ran the few steps to the railing that separated them from the fall to the ground floor. All the glee members looked between each other before they also stood up and joined Brittany. After a few moments, reality seemed to sink in to James and he began to refuse by shaking his head. Jessica turned back to the crowd.

"Seems like he's a little shy, I think you guys are gonna have to persuade him to do it," When she'd finished, the crowd began chanting his name. James slowly looked around the room before looking up at his friends in the VIP box to see them chanting along. A smile spread across his face and he reluctantly nodded. James took his guitar and placed in into a nearby stand as Jessica walked over to him without the microphone this time. They began to whisper to each other for a few moments before James' smile spread wider across his face. He said a few more words before Jessica smiled widened also. James began to walk up to the extended part of the stage towards where Jessica had left the microphone stand. Jessica picked up her guitar which was in the stand next to James' before she went and spoke to the other girls in the band. The crowd was still chanting his name as he began to speak into the microphone.

"Ok well, as Jessica said, you guys have been an amazing audience tonight," He pulled the microphone from the stand. "So although it is a complete shock that I'm gonna be singing a song , it's a great honour that I get to do it in front of such an great crowd like you guys," It seemed like James was pandering the crowd but they loved it and began to chant his name again. "Now the song we've just chosen is one of my all-time favourite songs and I know that the girls already sometimes play it anyway so it's perfect,"

James loosened his tie and threw it to the floor before removing his waistcoat and undoing the top few buttons on his white shirt. "It always gets me going and it's just great when performed on a stage in front of a crowd," He looked up and pointed at the VIP box. "I'm gonna dedicate this song to my new friends because they have been really great in supporting me tonight," He turned back to the crowd. "The song is by Def Leppard and its called Pour Some Sugar on Me," A bombardment of cheers came from the crowd. "Sounds like some of you know it so I'll try and heat things up a little!" He looked back and Jessica nodded to him. James leaned into the microphone. "Step inside, walk this way. You and me babe, Hey, Hey!" The band behind him burst into life with their instruments when James finished his line. They played for a few moments before he started singing.

_Love is like a bomb, baby, c'mon get it on_  
_Livin' like a lover with a radar phone_  
_Lookin' like a tramp, like a video vamp_  
_Demolition woman, can I be your man?_

_Razzle 'n' a dazzle 'n' a flash a little light  
Television lover, baby, go all night  
Sometime, anytime, sugar me sweet  
Little miss ah innocent sugar me, ye-ah_

Quinn noted on how well James was able sing the lyrics. He wasn't as good as Finn or Puck yet but with some practice he could be. The way he sang and the way he moved to the music showed that this was obviously one of his favourite songs. Quinn quickly wondered if this was one of those songs that James would spend countless hours singing when he was on his own. The thought of James dancing around his room, singing into a hairbrush brought a massive grin to her face. As she looked down, James pulled the microphone from its stand and walked back to where Charlotte was stood with her bass. He brushed up against the side of her as he continued to sing.

Hey! C'mon, take a bottle, shake it up  
Break the bubble, break it up

James jumped into the centre as the chorus started. He threw his free hand into the air as the many fans in the audience began to sing along.

Pour some sugar on me  
Ooh, in the name of love  
Pour some sugar on me  
C'mon, fire me up  
Pour your sugar on me  
Oh, I can't get enough

I'm hot, sticky sweet  
From my head to my feet, yeah

When he'd finished these lines, a musical bridge started as Jessica played on her guitar effortlessly. James then returned to the centre of the stage between Charlotte and Jessica. He began clapping his hands to the beat over his head and slowly the audience also started doing the same. After a few moments of this, James began singing the next verse while banging his foot to the floor in an attempt to keep the crowd clapping.

Listen! Red light, yellow light, green-a-light go!  
Crazy little woman in a one man show  
Mirror queen, mannequin, rhythm of love  
Sweet dream, saccharine, loosen up

You gotta squeeze a little, squeeze a little  
Tease a little more  
Easy operator come a knockin' on my door  
Sometime, anytime, sugar me sweet  
Little miss innocent sugar me, ye-ah, ye-ah  
Give a little more

This time, he seductively walked up to Jessica just as she had done to him earlier and began to move his body next to her. She quickly had a smile on her face as she continued to play and he continued to sing.

_Take a bottle, shake it up  
Break the bubble, break it up._

James suddenly yanked at the opening of his shirt tearing it open, revealing his chest and stomach. There was a massive amount of shouts and whistles from the girls in the crowd. He once again threw his free hand up into the air as the chorus started again. This time the crowd sang even louder.

Pour some sugar on me  
Ooh, in the name of love  
Pour some sugar on me  
C'mon fire me up  
Pour your sugar on me  
Oh, I can't get enough

Half way through the chorus he walked up the extended part of the stage and faced out to the crowd.

"I'm hot, sticky sweet…"

He slightly leaned back, pushing out his chest and stomach and slowly ran his finger down from his lips to just above his groin as he sang…

_"From my head to my..."_

He laughed into the mic as the girls in the crowd began to scream especially Brittany in the VIP booth. Jessica then began to play her solo. As she did, James walked back to the middle of the stage, giving Jessica the spotlight for a moment. When she'd finished the whole band began to sing.

_You got the peaches, I got the cream_  
_Sweet to taste, saccharine_  
_'cause I'm hot, say what, sticky sweet_  
_From my head, my head, to my feet_

James then turned towards the crowd and began singing on this own again.

_"Do you take sugar? One lump or two?  
Take a bottle, shake it up  
Break the bubble, break it up_

James then spoke into the microphone in his normal voice. "Sing it Lima!" He then let the crowd sing the 'Pour some sugar on me' parts of the final chorus while he sang the bits in between to keep them going. He raised his free arm towards them when he wanted them to sing.

_Pour some sugar on me_  
_Ooh, in the name of love_  
_Pour some sugar on me_  
_C'mon fire me up_  
_Pour your sugar on me_  
_Oh, I can't get enough_  
_Pour some sugar on me_  
_Oh, in the name of love_  
_Pour some sugar on me_  
_Get it, come get it_  
_Pour your sugar on me_  
_Ooh_  
_Pour some sugar on me_  
_Ye-ah!_

_Sugar me!_

* * *

_Authors note: Hoped you liked it guys. The first song was Avril Lavigne - Hot which has an amazing video that gave me a lot of ideas for the band members. The second was a brief part of Good Charlotte's Anthem which I did orignally put a full version in but I thought it was too much. And of course the last song was Def Leppard's Pour Some Sugar On Me. Great song to have playing in the background while your getting a lapdance. Trust me! lol If you've not heard it, your missing out on a classic rock song. I will try and update again as soon as I can. Pls review and tell me what you think.  
_

___Btw I'm looking for a new beta reader so if your interested mail me._  



	6. Rough But Beautiful like Santana

_Ok guys this is short chapter. Thanks for the reviews. Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

Quinn could still hear the thunderous applause that James had got when the music had ended. She could barely hear her footsteps on the pavement. The show had been amazing and James' song had only made it one hundred times better for her. To say that she had enjoyed herself would have been a massive understatement. She was beaming when she had left the club with Brittany and Santana and walked down the street to the nearest bus stop hoping the catch the last bus home.

"Wow I'm still tingling all over," Brittany said next to her as they sat on the bench waiting. Quinn looked down at her watch. It was 11:02. The last bus was due at 11:26. Quinn's Mother had given her strict instructions to be home by midnight. The problem with the last bus was that it took all the longest routes so it would take at least an hour before it got her even close to home. Judy had let up on a lot of things since she'd left Quinn's father but curfew was not one of them. There was not a doubt in her mind she would be getting the massive chewing out she normally got for missing the deadline and maybe even grounded.

"What's up with you Q?" Santana asked as sat next to Brittany, apparently noticing Quinn's apprehension and constant checking of the time.

"My mom's gonna kill me if I'm home late again," She answered. She checked the time again. 11:04. Damn it was going slow. Still another 20 minutes to wait. That's if the bus was even on time. She quickly looked up and down the street. Luckily, the street lamps kept most of it bright but it seemed deserted apart from the occasional car that would pass them and the noises coming from a bar that was still open across the street.

"Shame we didn't just stay at the club," Brittany said in her typical innocent voice. "I'm sure James would of given us a ride home," Quinn and Santana both looked at each other. Quinn quickly grabbed her phone from her jacket pocket and dialled his number. It was only a few rings before James answered.

"Hey Quinnie," He said. Quinn could hear voices and music in the background on his end of the line.

"Hey where are you?" She asked.

"I'm still at the club; the girls are having a few drinks with the staff here to celebrate,"

"Oh," Quinn suddenly felt hesitant about asking him. James had had a brilliant night and deserved to celebrate. She didn't want to ruin it for him.

"Why what's up?" He asked.

"It…it doesn't matter," She said in her softest voice. There was a moment silence before he spoke again.

"Quinn, what's wrong?" Even though he was on the other end of a cell phone, his voice was still sweet. Quinn still felt bad but she had to ask.

"Well this might sound rude to ask but can me, Brittany and Santana get a ride home?" She waited for him to answer but only gave him a couple of seconds to answer before she spoke again. "It's just that I need to get home before midnight or my mom's gonna murder me and the bus will take ages to get home because it takes all these stupid long routes and…," James cut her off as Quinn realised she was beginning to ramble.

"Where are you?" He asked. Quinn smiled to herself as she brushed some of her hair from her face unconsciously.

"We're just at the bus stop on Main Street,"

"Alright give me five minutes, Ok"

"Thank you," She said just before James ended the call. She smiled and placed her phone back inside her pocket. "He's coming in five minutes,"

It was actually only a couple of minutes before James' Audi turned onto the street and rolled up the bus stop. He wound down the passenger window when he'd stopped.

"You girls looking for a ride?" He said with a laugh. All three of the girls smiled as they opened the doors to get in. Quinn sat in the passenger seat while Santana and Brittany sat in the back. James pulled out the car out into the street. "You'll have to give me directions Quinn; I have no idea where I'm going,"

Santana and Brittany started their own little conversation in the back seat which was mainly about James' show and how great it had been while James and Quinn spoke to each other in the front.

"Thank you so much for doing this," Quinn said. She looked over at him and he was smiling.

"You are more than welcome Quinn," He said as he glanced over at her before looking back at the road.

"I feel kind of bad that you're missing the after party because of me," She tried to distract herself by looking out of the car window as she spoke. She hated the fact that he had to abandon the band's after show party just so she didn't get grounded.

"I was gonna leave anyway," He answered. "I know this sounds uncool, but we have school in the morning," She looked over and smiled before he smiled back. In the few moments of silence that followed they could hear Brittany and Santana talking in the back.

"James was so amazing on stage," Brittany said from the back seat. "My pipes are still pumping through hot water after that last song,"

"Oh yeah totally," Santana said. "My waters so hot it's close to steam," James looked at her through his rear-view mirror. He looked confused as Santana turned and winked at him while Quinn groaned from the front seat.

"I don't think I'm up on the lingo just yet," He said as he looked over at Quinn. "Does that mean they enjoyed it or?" Quinn gave a quick burst of laughter before she spoke.

"Yeah that means they loved it," She said before telling James to take the next left.

* * *

James had dropped both Brittany and Santana at Brittany's house. She'd insisted on giving James a hug from the backseat and gently kissed him on the cheek. Santana just winked at him again and thanked him for the ride home.

"Well that was weird," He said as he pulled back onto the road. Quinn looked over and smiled at him.

"Trust me, that's normal for them," She said and they both laughed. There was an awkward silence between them for a few minutes after that. Quinn occasionally would look over to him, hoping he would say something but he didn't. She placed her hands in her lap and began to play with them nervously. After a few more minutes of silence, she sighed and suddenly she knew exactly what to say.

"You were amazing tonight," He looked over at her and a wide smile spread across his face. "I liked the Crystals before but you were the one who made the show tonight," James just looked at her.

"Thanks Quinn, that means a lot," She was about to say something else but his smile had paralyzed her. She loved his smile. She loved his deep but soft brown eyes. She gained her composure again when he looked back at the road which was good because he was about to drive past the turning onto her street. After she told him, he turned and soon they were parked up outside her house just at the side of a street light. Quinn looked down at her watch. 11:43. Perfect.

"You're a real life saver," She said as she looked up at him.

"You know me Quinn, damsels in distress and all that," He said with a smile. She opened the door and slid out onto the sidewalk. She looked back into the car intent on thanking him again but she was surprised to see James getting out as well from the driver seat. She closed her door and took a step back onto the pavement. "I know you liked The Crystals before so I have a present for you," He opened the trunk and pulled out a large poster rolled up with an elastic band wrapped around the middle. He closed the trunk and handed it to her. "I got the band to sign it for you too."

Quinn carefully removed the elastic band and unrolled it. It was the wall poster from that night's gig with the four original girls in the band stood together. Jessica, Charlotte and Baby had all signed it with a black marker above their pictures. Quinn looked up at him and smiled.

"Thank you so much, I love it," She looked back down at it and realised that something was missing. "Wait, this is wrong," James moved closer to her and looked down at the poster in her hands.

"What's wrong?"

"There's a signature missing," She said as she looked up at him still with a smile on her lips. He seemed to be startled by it as if she didn't like his gift.

"Well, obviously I couldn't get Jodie's signature because she wasn't there," He grabbed one edge of the poster. "But I could get it when she comes back to the band," Quinn laughed as James looked back up into her eyes.

"I was talking about yours James," She said. He looked slightly confused for a moment. "You're in the band now and I think your signature should be on here too," Realisation covered James' face and he gave her that brilliant smile. Suddenly she had to concentrate to stop her knees from going weak. James quickly grabbed a pen from his inside his car and spread the poster out onto the hood of his car. He signed his name quickly before quickly rolling it back up and passing it back to her.

"You know what?" He said as she placed the elastic band back around the poster. "I still can't put my finger on you; you are way too sweet to be as bad as they say,"

"Maybe I'm both bad and sweet," She answered as she looked up at him. James leaned against his car door and smiled.

"I hope not," He said. "I prefer it when you're sweet," He winked and walked round the driver's side.

"Goodnight James," Quinn said as she began walking backwards along the path, towards her front porch. She kept looking at him as she did.

"Goodnight Quinn," James said as he opened the car door. "By the way, glad to see you out of that Cheerio's uniform, that outfit looks great on you," He pointed quickly to the leather outfit she was wearing. All she could do was smiled at him like she'd been doing all night.

* * *

She rolled over and curled into her white pillow. Little bits of moonlight cascaded through the window and across the bed sheets, slowly inching towards the head of the bed as the hours past. She felt the weight shift in the bed as he rolled up behind her and spooned against her body. She seemed to fit perfectly against him as he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. She smiled as she felt the warmth of his entire body begin to warm her own.

"I'm glad you decided to come tonight," Quinn said still with her eyes closed.

"Really?" James said from behind her. "I would of thought you'd be getting bored of me just showing up all the time,"

"Not a chance," She rolled over again in his arms and looked into his eyes. "I love your little visits," She leaned forward and gently placed a kiss on his lips. It was only for a moment until he pulled away briefly.

"Maybe this time I'll stay a little longer," He said before he lowered his head and began to gently kiss her neck. Naturally she leaned her head back to grant him more access. She moaned and bit her lip when he gently kissed the skin just below her ear.

"I hope you do," She said between moans as she as wrapped her leg around his waist, hoping to keep him close to her. "Please stay and don't leave me,"

"I don't want to leave..," He softly placed his fingers on her cheek and looked into her eyes. "But I'll been gone before you wake up in the morning,"

"Why?"

"Because you're dreaming sweetheart,"

Quinn's eyes slowly opened and she sat up in her bed, stretching her arms over her head. The early morning sunlight beamed through the small gap between her curtains. She unconsciously felt the bed next to her to find that it was empty. She was disappointed that it had all been a dream but she had been dreaming a lot about James and she was beginning to enjoy it. A pleasant tingle went up her spine as she thought about his gentle kisses on her skin. She regrettably shook the thought from her mind deciding that a cold shower would hopefully cool her off before school started.

* * *

"Hey James," He looked up from his locker as Rachel said his name. The hallway was swarming with students as everyone was switching between classes. Rachel had to dodge a few people just as she walked up to him.

"Hey Rach," James said as they both smiled at each other. "How you doing?"

"I'm very good, thank you," She answered. James smirked as he threw a couple of books into the back of his locker from his bag. "How are you?"

"I'm good, coming down off my high from last night though," He said as he shut his locker.

"I'm not surprised, I've often noticed that the adrenaline rush you get from performing can take a few days to wear off," She said and James just smiled. Rachel quickly glanced down the hall in the opposite direction and saw Mike give her thumbs up before turning and walking towards the choir room. "Are you walking to Glee?" Rachel asked him as she clutched her folder to her chest.

"Sure," He said as he placed the strap of his bag over his shoulder. They both began to walk together through the crowd.

"Your performance last night was amazing," Rachel said. "You're a good singer and your stage presence is perfect," James looked over at her and slightly raised an eyebrow followed by a slight smile. "With some slight training, your voice could be perfected," James cut her off.

"You could just say you enjoyed it you know," He said with a laugh.

"Sorry I'm told I talk too much," She said as she looked down at the ground.

"I'm just glad you've cheered up a little. The other day when we met, you looked like the world was going to end," James said as they turned the corner. Rachel looked up and smiled.

"Yes well, I still have a lot on my mind, but I'm trying to concentrate on other things,"

"Well if you need someone to talk to, you know where I am," James said as they stepped up to the closed choir room door. She gently grabbed his arm which made him look at her.

"Thanks, you are very sweet,"

"That's what friends do for each other," James said as he pushed down the door handle and pushed open the door.

As he stepped into the room, it suddenly filled with cheers and applause. James looked shocked as his fellow glee clubbers and Mr Schue stood on the little stage at the back of the room, normally where the chairs are laid out, shouting and cheering for him. Rachel pushed him further into the room where she pointed to a homemade banner at the back which said 'Congratulations' on it which was covered in stars and glitter. Obviously a product of Rachel's work.

"What's all this for?" James said with a massive smile on his face.

"Quinn told us that you left the after party because you were making sure she got home before her curfew," Mr. Schue said from the middle of the group. "So your friends wanted to throw their own after party just for you James," Brittany and Santana both ran over and hugged him at the same time.

"Thanks guys but you didn't need to do this for me"

"Yes we did," Brittany said as she turned slowly and put her arm around James' waist causing him to quickly glance over to Artie who was just smiling too. "You were Quinnie's knight in shining armour last night," Quinn instantly shook her head at Brittany as she used her new nickname. James noticed and just smiled at her.

"I'm sure Quinnie would do the same for me if I needed help," James said. Quinn realised that her cheeks had slightly reddened at his light eye contact.

"Of course," She said back with a smile of her own.

* * *

As they had glee club for the rest of the afternoon, Mr. Schue let them spend most of it chatting with a little music playing in the background. They had formed a small circle of chairs in the centre of the room where they were all sat. Rachel had brought in some vegan snacks while Quinn and Santana had brought in some random snacks that they'd made in Home EC class that morning so a few of them were eating.

"So where exactly are you from James?" Finn asked. James swallowed part of the cupcake he was eating before he spoke.

"From Sheffield in the north of England," He answered. "Built on seven hills like Rome,"

"Is it nice?" Brittany asked. James just smiled.

"It's beautiful," He said with a laugh. "Rough but beautiful, kinda like Santana," Everyone laughed as James looked over at her.

"I prefer deadly but beautiful," She said with a wink. James laughed again. Across from him, Quinn met Santana with a glare as a warning for her flirting with him. Santana just looked back with one of her trademark smirks. James suddenly reached into his jean's pocket and pulled out his vibrating phone. He looked at the screen.

"Ah excuse me a second," James then stood up and left the room talking into his phone. They all started to talk amongst themselves but James came back into the room just a few moments later, still talking on his phone. "Ok Aunt," He stood near the piano for a moment. "So I'm ok to invite a few friends over?" At this moment, everyone in the room was looking over at him. "Of course I will, I'll have the place spotless before you get back on Monday," A few moments later and James was smiling widely. "You're the best Aunt ever; I'll see you later," He pushed a button on his phone and looked up at everyone to see them all staring.

"Good news?" Sam asked. James walked over and sat back down in his seat before he answered.

"Yeah, my aunt is going out of town for a few days and she said I can have a few friends over,"

"Alright!" Puck shouted. "Party at Phoenix's place,"

"Yeah, tomorrow night," James said as he picked up the water bottle he had placed next to his chair.

"Is there going to be booze?" Santana said in a whisper. James chuckled before he spoke.

"You're always straight to the point San," James looked over her shoulder at Mr. Schue who was sat in his office finishing off some test papers. "My Aunt also said she would sort us out some refreshments as well," He raised his eyebrows suggestively a few times causing everyone to smile.

"Why would your Aunt leave you on your own, say you can have a party and provide you with alcohol?" Rachel asked.

"Because she's obviously the best Aunt ever," Puck said mockingly. James laughed again.

"Yeah she is but that's because she's young," He screwed the top back onto his water bottle. "She's knows that now I've got some friends here and she's going away, then I'm probably gonna have a party. She's just showing me that she trusts me,"

"What about the alcohol?" Rachel asked. James just looked at her and smirked.

"She must just love me I guess,"

* * *

Puck pulled his lips away from Rachel's as they were both laid on her pink ruffled comforter. Puck purposely looked away from her, not wanting to keep eye contact with her. Rachel looked at him for just a moment before she placed a hand to her lips before she spoke.

"Is something wrong?" She asked as Puck looked back at her. "Did I bite you again?" Puck shook his head before sighing a little.

"I did this to Finn once before, I can't do it again," He thought for simply a second before he spoke again. "I'm sorry I have to go,"

Within just a few minutes, he was gone and Rachel was sat back on her bed, left alone once again to rinse over the thoughts flying through her head. She was also partially shocked that Puck had the conscious to up and leave during a make out session but that was unimportant. Santana telling Rachel that Finn had bought her dinner after they'd slept together had really pushed her over the edge and for a brief moment she felt devastated until Puck had asked her if she was ok. Then she'd suddenly felt a little better. Strolling down the hallway passed Finn with her arm linked with Puck's had given her an idea. However she hadn't counted on Puck having a conscious because let's be honest. Who freaking knew that Noah Puckerman had a conscious. Rachel wondered if that what had happened would be enough to get back at Finn. A quick prang of guilt hit her like truck. She still loved Finn and nothing would ever change that but she needed to make him feel exactly like she felt.

Her train of thought was suddenly broken by her phone vibrating from an incoming text message on top of her dresser. She stood up and crossed the small distance before picking up her phone and seeing that the message was from James.

_**Hey Rach, party starts at seven tonight. You still coming?**_

She didn't even hesitate before she quickly typed in the answer.

_**Of course. Do you need me to bring anything?**_

She sat down at her desk as she waited for him to answer. The screen on her laptop was slowly flicking through pictures of her and Finn together as her screensaver. Her phone vibrated again.

_**Just yourself girl. I've got everything covered…I think lol**_

Rachel looked at the time and saw it was just after three in the afternoon. She should probably start thinking about getting ready and what she was going to wear.

* * *

_Tell me what you think guys. Good or bad. I welcome all criticism!_

_ Next Chapter is the party!_


	7. Party Rock!

_Another chapter for you guys and its party time! Thanks to n2aabmmummy for your review and to emilylauren because shes supporting and awesome although she hasn't reviewed me in a while lol_

* * *

Quinn pressed the doorbell. This was the address that James had given her earlier. His house was on the end of a nice quiet street in the fancy part of town. The black door was massive with one of those old style brass knockers in the middle of it but there was clearly a bell at the side of the door also which was a little weird. It was a few minutes before seven. She had thought about waiting the few minutes before she knocked so that she didn't seem too eager but decided that was the crazy side of her mind talking. She was about to push the bell again when the door opened. James instantly smiled when he saw her.

"Hey Quinn," He quickly looked her up and down. "Wow you look great," Quinn had decided to wear a grey and white sundress with a small black denim jacket. The thought of wearing her Cheerio's outfit had only entered her mind for a minute when she was struggling to find a jacket to match her dress but a quick call to Brittany had solved that problem. She'd also curled her hair slightly as without the uniform, there was no point tying her hair back in the usual pony tail.

"Thanks," She answered shyly as she brushed a bang of hair behind her ear. He pushed the door wider and welcomed her into the house. "I'm sorry I'm a little early," There was a slight sound of music echoing down the corridor.

"No problem," He said as he closed the door behind her. "It's only a few minutes, besides Rachel's been here nearly an hour," He said with a laugh.

"Yeah that sounds like her," She said with a laugh of her own.

"Can I take your jacket?" He asked. She smiled at him as she quickly slid off the small jacket and passed it to him.

"Why thank you," He placed it onto a nearby coat hook at the foot of the stairs. "Such a gentleman,"

"Anything for a beautiful young lady such as yourself," He bowed before her in a dramatic fashion which just made Quinn giggle. "Come on, me and Rachel are mixing cocktails in the kitchen," He lightly touched her shoulder as he passed her and led her towards the kitchen.

As soon as they entered the large kitchen, Rachel looked up and beamed a massive smile at them.

"Hey Quinn," She said as she took another sip from a glass of red liquid before galloping over and giving the blonde a massive hug. She leaned slightly back and looked Quinn over. "Wow you look amazing girlfriend," Quinn laughed slightly at how forward Rachel was.

"She's a little drunk already," James whispered as he took the glass from Rachel's hand before she accidentally poured it on Quinn. Once the glass was back safely on the counter top, James spoke again but at his normal volume. "Rachel sweetie, you need to drink this water," He pushed a plain glass of water towards her. Rachel turned towards him, still with her arm around Quinn's shoulders causing her to turn too.

"Why?" Rachel asked. The way she looked at him was very playful for her. This was a side of Rachel Quinn had never seen before.

"Because I'm responsible for everyone tonight and you told me you'd never drank alcohol before so I don't want you to get hurt or sick," He said as he looked directly into her eyes. After a few moments, Rachel sighed as she released her grasp of Quinn and grabbed the water from his hand.

"Tonight James Phoenix, I'm under your command," She said as she began to gulp down the water hoping the finish the glass in one go. James quickly grabbed the glass, stopping her.

"Nice and slow Rachel, downing it in one go won't help at all,"

"Yes boss," She said as she took a sip from the glass as he handed it back to her. The doorbell echoed through the corridor and into the kitchen. James was about to say something when Rachel interrupted him. "I'll get it," She said as she dashed out the kitchen, slightly slipping as she turned the corner. Luckily she kept her balance. Quinn and James looked at each other before they both let out a little laugh.

"I'm gonna take a shot in the dark and say that drunk Rachel is gonna be fun," He said as they heard the front door open and Rachel squeal with excitement.

"I've never seen her like this," Quinn said as he poured some of the red liquid from the pitcher into a tall glass. "What's she been drinking?" James smiled as he passed her the glass. He didn't say anything as Quinn lifted the glass to her mouth and took a sip of the red liquid. It tasted fruity but there was no taste of alcohol at all.

"Just cranberry juice," James said with a smirk. "When she told me she hadn't had booze before, I didn't want her getting wasted before the party started so I told her I'd mixed it with vodka," Quinn smiled as she realised what he'd done. She looked over at him as he raised his eye brows slightly.

"You are sneaky Mr. Phoenix," She said as she handed him back the glass. "Sweet, but sneaky,"

"Thank you Miss Fabray," He said as he grabbed a still sealed bottle of vodka from the collection of different bottles on the worktop behind him. "Now shall we get this party started?"

Just as he started pouring some vodka into the pitcher with the cranberry juice in it, Rachel came back into the kitchen with Kurt, Mercedes, Brittany and Santana. Kurt immediately hugged everyone he could.

"Thank you for inviting me James," He said as he looked over at James who was still pouring vodka into the pitcher, glanced up with a smile for him.

"You're more than welcome Kurt," He said as he placed the cap back on top of the vodka. "Wouldn't be a Glee club party without one of its most important members," Everyone smiled as James began pouring some of the now slightly faded red liquid into a short glass before taking a quick gulp. His face was the first to change as it recoiled in horror and then his fist hit down onto the marble surface, causing a loud bang to echo through the room.

"Is it too strong?" Mercedes asked.

"Nope," He said as he handed her the glass with a slight cough. "It's perfect, let's party!"

* * *

The party was in full swing by the time everyone else arrived. Finn, Puck and Artie were the next to arrive followed shortly by Tina, Mike and Sam. James had barely heard the doorbell both times over the sound of the music blaring from the large surround speakers attached to the TV mounted on the wall of the living room. The best thing about this room was the window. An entire side of room was a set of folding doors which meant that the entire wall could be opened up during the summer. However with this being early November, it was turning cold at night. However the glass wall meant that the moonlight and the stars shone into the room and giving you a great view of the large pool in the back garden. Brittany, Santana and Quinn were dancing together in the middle of the room where a coffee table had been just minutes before. James had pushed it up against the unit below the TV, making a large space for people to dance. This makeshift dance floor was surrounded by three large black leather sofa's which James had also pushed back a bit making even more room for dancing. While the three cheerleaders were dancing to a remix of The Black Eyed Pea's best songs on a music channel, Kurt and Mercedes were sat on one of the sofas, both watching the others dance. Rachel had been chatting with them as well until James had started to moved furniture around, and then she'd just felt compelled to help him. As James had gone to answer the door and Rachel was about to follow him, Brittany had grabbed her by the elbow. Rachel soon found herself dancing with the cheerleaders and laughing as Brittany tried to dance with all three of them at the same time.

It wasn't long before everyone was slightly drunk and most of them were up dancing with only Artie, Mercedes and Kurt sat down. All three of them were smiling and laughing as they watched their friends dance. Mercedes lifted the red cup in her hand and finished what was left of the dark purple cocktail that James had described as a "Crazy Vimto". It tasted like summer fruits with a little hint of alcohol but it was great.

"I'm going to get a refill," She said as she slid off the comfortable couch. "You want anything?" She said to both Kurt and Artie at the same time. They both shook their heads and lifted their cups, showing they still had plenty left. As soon as she left, Kurt felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He dug it out to see a message from Blaine waiting for him.

_**Hey Kurt, I need rescuing! If I don't find something to do tonight, I'm gonna be stuck playing board games with my parents all night. What you doing tonight?**_

Kurt immediately jumped to his feet and ran into the kitchen. He needed Mercedes advice, who was halfway through pouring a drink.

"Blaine's just text me," He said. Mercedes looked up from what she was doing from the sound of his voice.

"Oh yeah, what did he say," She placed the pitcher back onto the side.

"He wants to know what I'm up to tonight," He quickly showed her the message and she smiled.

"That's great," She said as she finished up pouring her drink.

"Well what should I send back to him?" He asked. Just then James entered the kitchen behind them.

"Hey," He said as he placed a few empty bottles into the sink. "What's going on?"

"Kurt's just got a text from his crush," Mercedes said as she took a sip from her freshly filled cup.

"Mercedes!" Kurt said abruptly at his best friend's honesty. James turned and smiled.

"Oh yeah? What did he say?" James asked.

"He wants to know what I'm doing tonight. I really like this guy so I need to know what to send back to him," Kurt said. James and Mercedes just looked at each other.

"What you got so far?" James asked.

"Nothing yet," Mercedes answered.

"Let me see what he sent," Kurt showed James the message to which he just smiled.

"Well he likes you alright," He said.

"How can you tell just from that?" Mercedes asked pointing to the phone.

"The beginning," James said as he looked the message over again. "I need rescuing, he's desperate to get out of the House and you were the first one he thought of, which means this guy's got you on his mind,"

"So what do I send him back?" Kurt asked trying to hide his quickly reddening cheeks.

"The truth of course," James said as he rested against the counter. "Tell him you're at a party with a few friends and see what he sends back," Kurt looked at Mercedes who simply shrugged her shoulders.

"Ok," Kurt typed a quick message back.

_**Hey, I'm Sorry. I'm at a party with a few friends tonight.**_

"Let me see what you wrote," Mercedes said. She read the brief message and nodded. "Very simple," she said with a smile.

"Simple? Let me see," James said as he outstretched his hand. Kurt hesitated slightly before handing him the phone. James briefly checked what Kurt had typed in. "Put his name in and take out the sorry,"

"Why?" Kurt asked as James handed him back the phone.

"Well he was decent enough to enter your name when he text you and putting sorry in that message will stop the conversation and we want to keep it going right?" James said as he sat up on the counter. Kurt nodded and made the changes to the message before sending it.

"Ok it's sent," Kurt said as he nervously placed the phone onto the counter.

"What he sends back should tell us something," James said. "Hopefully it will be something good," Kurt's phone vibrated again and he snatched it up but they all dashed to see what Blaine had sent.

_**Cool, are you having a good time?**_

"Now he's gone simple," James said as he leaned back from the phone.

"Should we send simple back?" Mercedes asked.

"Yeah but with some enticement," James answered. "What do you think Kurt?"

"You seem to know more about this than me so lead the way so to speak," James smiled at Kurt.

"Tell him it's a little slow but it's only just started," As James spoke Kurt typed in the message. "After that put in that everyone else seems to be having a great time though," Kurt finished it off and sent what James had said to Blaine.

"It didn't start off slow though," Mercedes said. "This is quiet good for a white guy's party,"

"I know," James said. "But we want him to keep asking about the party,"

"Why?"

"Because we're gonna invite him," James said as he lifted himself onto the counter again and threw a few snacks into his mouth.

"What?" Kurt and Mercedes asked at the same time.

"Yeah why not," James said as he finished chewing. "You want to spend some time with this guy and he clearly wants to get to know you Kurt so why not. This is a party after all,"

"He doesn't know anyone here," Kurt said.

"That's a good thing," James answered. "We can talk you up a bit and he gets to meet your friends. Besides I'm not gonna let him get stuck at home on a Saturday night when there's a pretty awesome party going on," Kurt's phone vibrated again. Mercedes leaned in close to read it with him.

_**I'm sure it'll pickup and you'll have a great time. Anyway I'll let you have some fun. Hopefully my parents will let me watch a movie or something.**_

After glancing at Mercedes for a second, Kurt moved to James' side and showed him the message. James quickly read it, nodding and smiling at it.

"That's perfect," James said as he smiled at Kurt. "Give it a couple of minutes and I'll call him,"

"You'll call him?" Mercedes asked. James simply nodded before he picked up a glass and filled it with water from the tap.

"Blaine lives on the other side of town anyway. It would take him at least an hour and a half to get here on the bus," Kurt said.

"That's no problem, we'll go pick him up," James answered. Kurt and Mercedes looked at each other only for a second before Mercedes spoke.

"We've all been drinking, none of us can drive," She said.

"I haven't," James said. "Apart from that test of cocktail earlier, I've been drinking water," He motioned the glass towards them and took another swig. "So what do you think? Shall we do this?"

Kurt looked over at Mercedes for guidance to which she just raised her shoulders slightly which Kurt knew was Mercedes way of saying "It's totally up to you," He looked down at his phone for a minute before sighing.

"Ok let's do this," Kurt quickly found Blaine's number on his phone and passed it to James.

"Ok," James said as he looked down at Kurt's Iphone. He pressed the screen and waited a second before pressing it to his ear. Without thinking, Kurt placed his hand in Mercedes to which she just offered him a smile. After a few seconds, James looked up at them.

"Hey Blaine, its James. I'm a friend of Kurt's," A few seconds passed and James beamed a smile at Kurt. "Oh he's mentioned me?" Kurt's mind suddenly jumped back to the morning after he'd been to see James' show with The Crystals. He'd been sat in the rec room with Blaine and had told him all about the show and their trip to the mall earlier in the week. "Well he's very sweet," James winked at him causing Kurt's cheeks to turn slightly red. "Anyway, Kurt's told me that you're stuck at home tonight?" James waiting for Blaine to answer before he continued. "Well I'm having a party at my place with Kurt, Mercedes and a few others if you'd like to join us?" A few seconds more as James listened to Blaine. "Just a few drinks, music, dancing and good friends," James smiled after a few seconds. "Ok get ready, me and Kurt are on our way to pick you up. Cya soon," James clicked the screen and threw the phone back to Kurt with a smirk on his face. Kurt didn't know what to say. He should probably thank James but he didn't really know how. Would just a plain thank you be enough for what James had just done? Luckily Mercedes knew exactly what to say.

"Pretty fly for a white guy," She raised her freshly filled cup to him and James bowed his head slightly still with a wide smile on his face. Rachel chose that moment to enter the kitchen still in the same state she was earlier.

"Hey guys," She said with a sweet smile. She hiccupped softly as she stepped up to the counter next to James and began picking through the cocktails. Luckily James had made a wide selection.

"You ok Rach?" James said as he passed her another glass of water. She smiled at him and took the glass knowing James was looking out for her.

"Yes I'm all good," She said between sips. "I'm a little bit drunk but I'm loving this party,"

"Well me and Kurt are gonna go and pickup Blaine from his place," James said as he began to walk across to the doorway leading into the hall. "Rachel? Can you help Mercedes keep an eye on the place till I get back?"

"Blaine's coming?" Rachael said with a smile. "Aww I love Blaine,"

"I'll take that as a yes then," James laughed as he reached around the door and grabbed his car keys. "Ready Kurt?" Kurt simply nodded and walked after him looking slightly nervous. After a few seconds they heard the front door close. Just as it did, Quinn walked into the kitchen with a concerned look on her face.

"Where's James and Kurt going?" She asked as she pointed over her shoulder.

"The new boy's being a hero again," Mercedes said as she started to tell both Rachel and Quinn about the last 20 minutes.

* * *

They both stood side by side by James' car as Kurt finished speaking to Blaine on his phone, telling him they were outside. Kurt ended the call and put his phone away. Their trip had been brief with very little conversation but it hadn't been awkward even in the slightest. Not that they'd hadn't spoken. Mainly a quick mention about James and what Kurt had thought about the show from the previous night. Kurt stole a quick glance over at James.

"He's on his way," Kurt said. James simply nodded as he looked up into the sky.

"The sky is nice tonight, not a cloud in sight," He said. Kurt looked up and saw that the sky was indeed cloudless meaning that the stars were shining down beautifully. Kurt took another quick glance at James before he decided that he needed to be simple.

"Thank you for this," James simply smiled at Kurt's words as Blaine came out his front door and closing it behind him. Blaine was wearing a simple black leather jacket with a white tee underneath and a pair of tight fitting black jeans. Kurt stepped forward as Blaine approached them with a wide grin on his face. He went straight up to Kurt and pulled him into a hug. Kurt face was suddenly covered in shock. After what seemed like an eternity to Kurt, which was actually just a few seconds, Blaine pulled back out of the hug. Kurt still a little dazed, turned to James. "Blaine, this is James,"

James smiled and outstretched his hand which Blaine took almost instantly. "Pleasure to meet you Blaine,"

"No the pleasure is mine," He answered. "Thank you for the invitation,"

"Ahh well, it was all Kurt's idea," James said pointing to the smaller guy to his side. "Anyway come on, let's get back to the party and hope that Puckerman hasn't wrecked the house,"

* * *

_Authors Note: This party is probably gonna be like three chapters. As per usual, thanks for reading and let me know what you think by pushing the old review buttons. More next week._


	8. Elegant Dresses and Tuxedos

_Hey guys, here's your next chapter. Hope you enjoy. PS thanks to EmilyLauren for all her support!_

* * *

Brittany and Santana were still dancing as Quinn came out of the kitchen with a fresh drink in her hand. She smiled as her two best friends grinded against each other. To anyone else, it just looked like two drunken friends dancing but to Quinn, it was love. Well at least lust anyway. Santana would never admit to it being love and with Brittany being with Artie but Quinn knew what was really going on between her two best friends. Quinn took a sip from her cup as Rachel went passed her to start dancing with the two cheerleaders again and Mercedes sat back down on the sofa. Just as Quinn was about to sit down, she saw shadows cascading down the corridor that lead to the front door. Quinn knew this must mean that James was back. As soon as she turned the corner, Kurt was walking towards her.

"Quinn!" He shouted. She managed to move her cup to one side just in time before he engulfed her into a hug. "Quinn, this is Blaine," He said as he turned towards the door. Blaine outstretched his hand immediately towards her.

"Nice to meet you," Blaine said. "Kurt wasn't lying when he said how beautiful you were," Quinn cheek's instantly went red.

"Thank you," She said shyly. James came up behind them and she looked over to him.

"No argument from me," He said as he smiled at her slightly reddened cheeks. "She's the best looking girl at this amazingly well hosted party," James saying this only made her blush and there was no way she could hide it. "I think we'd better stop Blaine, I think we're making Miss Fabray blush," James, Kurt and Blaine all laughed before Quinn lightly hit James on the arm playfully. Kurt then led Blaine towards the living room to introduce him to everyone, leaving James and Quinn in the hallway alone. "Any problems while I was gone?" He asked. Quinn simply shook her head while she still smiled at him.

"Mercedes told us what you did for Kurt," She said as she took a step closer to him and gently placed her hand into his before gently squeezing his palm. "That was a very sweet thing to do," James looked down at the connection between them before he smiled.

"He reminds of a friend back home," He said as he looked down at her still beaming a smile. "Coming out and admitting you gay in school is a hard thing to live through. I just wish he'd could've been as brave as Kurt,"

"He was gay?" Quinn asked. James simply nodded before he started speaking again.

"He was so afraid of coming out. All he wanted was to be himself,"

"Sounds familiar," Quinn said as she looked towards Kurt in the living room.

"He wasn't as flamboyant as Kurt is and girls used to chase him all the time but he wasn't interested in them. He always told me how he hated hiding who he was but coming out would have been dangerous for him," He also looked towards the living room.

"Like it was for Kurt?" She asked.

"Oh no, from what you guys have told me, Kurt had it rough but back home it would have been a lot worse," James continued to stare down the hallway as Quinn looked back at him. "All it would have taken was one idiot with the wrong idea and my friend would have been in the hospital or worse," James looked back down at her. "So when I see someone like Kurt, I'm reminded how difficult it is to be different and how lonely it can be being someone you don't want to be,"

"Yeah, you're right, but it was still very nice of you to help him like you did,"

"How could I not," James said with a laugh. "You know me Quinnie, damsels in distress and all that. Besides look at how happy he is now," He pointed back towards the living room. Quinn looked back and saw Kurt dancing with Blaine and looking the happiest Quinn had ever seen him. This was exactly what Kurt needed.

"You're amazing, you know that?" She said, not even looking back at James. Suddenly she looked down and realised they were still holding hands.

"I know," He said. "Now come on, you owe me a dance," He said as he pulled her towards the living room. All Quinn could do is smile.

* * *

Several hours later and the party was still going strong. At this point, everyone was drunk. Once Santana had found out that James hadn't drank anything yet, she'd forced him and Blaine to have a shot drinking contest. Blaine was now looking a little worse for wear but James still looked pretty normal considering how much he'd drank. Quinn watched him as he danced with Brittany and Puck. Blaine and Kurt were sat talking with Rachel, Mercedes and Sam and they all would suddenly laugh for no reason. Santana was slumped on the other sofa next to Finn and Artie daring them to do another shot while Mike and Tina were making out in the corner of the room.

"Sorry Brittany," James said slightly out of breath. "I need to sit down for a minute and catch my breath," He did as he said leaving her dancing with Puck. As he walked over to the nearest seat, he picked up his mobile phone from below the TV and slumped down next to Quinn. He looked through his phone as his breathing slowed to its normal pace. A few more moments went by before a very wide grin spread across his face.

"You ok?" Quinn asked. James looked at her.

"Yeah perfectly," He said. "My mate back home just emailed me to tell me she'd uploaded a new video,"

"Oh, a video of what?" She asked as she took another sip of her drink. He shrugged his shoulders.

"She doesn't say. The last one was of her at school, with everyone saying how much they missed me,"

"Well maybe we should watch this one," James looked over at her. "You know your new friends meeting your old friends," She smiled at him and he smiled back.

"Yeah that sounds great," He looked up and saw Brittany and Puck both sitting down on the floor obviously catching their breaths. He looked back Quinn sat beside him. "Now?" He asked. She simply nodded. James stood up and turned down the music using a nearby remote. He then told everyone he'd be showing the video which nobody seemed to mind. They all collected around the sofas and James picked up the remote again. He pressed a button and an interface came up on the TV. In the corner of the screen was a notification telling them there was a new video. James clicked on it and the screen went black with a rotating circle in the middle telling them the video was loading. The screen then changed to a camera shot of a girl stood in a bedroom. She had dark hair in curls that flowed over her shoulders. Her blue eyes were covered by thin framed designer glasses and she was wearing simply a light blue tank top and white loose slacks.

"Hey James," She waved as she spoke into the camera.

"Whoa, who is this?" Puck said as he sat up to attention to the girl on the screen.

"That's Emily, she's my best friend back home," James said as he took another sip from his cup.

"Well I think I'm in love," Puck said still with his eyes plastered to the screen. James laughed.

"Yeah she has that effect on drunk guys," He said as the Emily continued to talk.

"I know you've been a little homesick and I know I'm not helping here but we miss you so much James," She brushed back a bang of hair from her face. "I was looking through a lot of our old videos and I found something we thought we'd lost. So I want you to sit back and enjoy this and remember what good times we had together," She waved again and the video cut to someone walking around a room with a video camera. The room was littered with chairs and tables with some people sat and others stood. Some with drinks in their hands and others without. Some were young and others were old. Only one thing was common and that was their attire. The men and boys were all dressed in full black suits while the women and girls were wearing elegant dresses.

"Oh wow," James said. He sat forward in his seat occasionally letting out a little laugh as familiar people appeared on the screen.

"James?" As Brittany said his name, he looked from the screen to her. "Is it a party?"

"Yeah my birthday party last year," James said. "I knew nothing about it," He looked back towards the screen. The camera was now pointed at Emily who was holding it.

"Hello everyone, well it's about that time and James is due any moment," She had her hair done straight which was longer than it had been earlier and she was wearing a simple black strapped dress. "As far as we know he knows nothing about this and he thinks his sister is treating him to dinner," The camera cut to someone coming through the door into the hall. She was a blonde girl with her hair done similarly to Emily but she was wearing a pink dress instead of a black one. She ran straight over to Emily.

"Did you see him Lauren?" Emily asked.

"Yeah I just saw his sister so it should be any minute," Lauren answered causing Emily to shout to everyone.

"Ok guy's he's nearly here. Get ready!" Emily moved the camera back towards the door and everyone waited and watched the doorway. For around 20 seconds nothing happened until James walked through looking over his shoulder at an older woman who was following him. As he walked through everyone in the room started to sing Happy Birthday. As soon as he heard them he looked back into the room with a surprised look on his face. As quickly as the surprised look had appeared it vanished. James was now smiling and shaking his head in disbelief. There was a collection of whistles and whoops from the Glee club when he entered the shot. A couple of older people came up and hugged him on the video. He was dressed in the same clothing as everyone else at the birthday party. A dark navy suit with matching tie and waistcoat.

"Looking good Phoenix," Santana said.

"I'm telling you girl, I make navy blue look sexy" James winked as he briefly looked over at her. Everyone laughed before continuing to watch the video. Just as they all looked back to it, a man and women walked up and hugged James. The woman was a little shorter than James with long brunette hair and light hazel eyes. She was wearing a long dark green dress which clung to her small framed body. However the man was slightly taller than James but look exactly like him. The same facial features as each other, but with light blue eyes and slightly fairer and longer hair. Looking at them Quinn had a slight idea who they were. She turned to ask James but stopped when she saw his facial expression. James' face was blank, he looked lost and his eyes were locked on the screen. From his expression, she knew she was right about who they were.

"James?" She said softly trying to get his attention. She was sat right next to him but he didn't look away from the screen. Apparently Rachel had also picked up on James' change in expression.

"James, are you ok?" Rachel asked. As the scene changed to people dancing to some pop music, James turned to Quinn and Rachel. He slightly smiled at them both before saying he was ok. The smile was very unconvincing but they didn't say anything else and went back to watching the video. A few more minutes went by, mainly of people dancing and laughing. James had appeared in most of them. He'd taken off his suit jacket, obviously to avoid getting too hot. Quinn kept a close eye on the real James next to her as they continued to watch. He was slightly smiling again but it wasn't the wide grin she was used to seeing him with. She really wanted to say something to him but she couldn't. She didn't want to make things worse. She looked over at Rachel who had the same worried look on her face. Quinn leaned forward and placed a reassuring hand onto James' shoulder. He looked back at her with the same saddened smile. She was about to ask him if he wanted to turn the video off and watch it later when she was interrupted by Emily in the video.

"James!" She shouted as she quickly looked around the ballroom for him. There was a distinct sound of slow music playing in the background over the speakers. Quinn couldn't quite make out what the song was but it was definitely slow and romantic. The camera quickly flew up to a table where James was sat with the slightly older women who had been described as his older sister. "There you are," She said with a faint sound of breathlessness.

"What's up Em?" James said.

"They're dancing," She said as she pointed behind her towards the middle of the room. James looked in that direction before looking back towards his sister with a wide grin.

"Old traditions die hard," He said as he outstretched his hand towards his sibling. She immediately took it and they stood. Emily followed them with the camera as they made their way through the people and the tables the middle of the room. Soon the crowd of people passed and they were looking at an open dance floor. The older couple from before were now slow dancing around the open space to the slow music. Most of the crowd were watching them and smiling.

Quinn glanced back over at James next to her, whose eyes were fixed onto the screen. He reached up and gently grabbed the silver rings on the chain around his neck, absentmindedly rubbing his thumb over them. The couple of the screen continued to dance as he watched their every move. The slow dance continued for a few more minutes before the song slowed to an end. As the music stopped so did the couple to a round of applause from the crowd. A few seconds went by before another slow song started. James and his sister stepped out onto the dance floor towards the couple. When they approached them, there was a few seconds of chatting which was inaudible to the camera. Soon James outstretched his hand to the older women, which she immediately took. They locked hands and soon they were dancing around the room together in the same way as before.

Quinn was amazed at how majestic the scene looked. Long flowing gowns, men dressed in suits and dancing. However from the look on James' face next to her, Quinn could tell this was getting too much for him. He looked away from the screen and down at the floor, covering his eyes with his hand briefly. He was obviously trying to hide his emotion. Quinn reached out to touch his shoulder but James quickly stood up and turned off the TV.

"Excuse me," He said as he walked behind the sofa. "I just need some air," Everyone in the glee club watched as he speedily left the room through the sliding door. They all glanced at each other as silence filled the room. Quinn looked at all of them until she looked at Rachel. They're eyes met and Rachel nodded her head towards the door. Quinn immediately knew what it meant. She smiled back at Rachel before she stood up and followed James outside.

"Noah!" Rachel said sternly behind her. "Figure out this system and get us some music on so we can dance some more!"

* * *

_Alright guys just a short chapter but the next ones going to get deep so wanted it all in one. Please review guys, tell me what you think. More next week!_


	9. Revelation

_As a gift to my loyal readers, I have decided to post up this newest chapter as a gift. Merry Christmas everyone!_

* * *

Quinn noticed that it had turned slightly cold as she stepped out through the sliding door. She clutched the exposed skin of her arms, crossing her chest as she did. She looked around the pool and saw James sat on the edge on the other side. He was staring down into the water. He'd taken off his socks and had his feet dangling into the water, causing small delicate waves to ripple across the water. He must have felt her eyes on him, causing him to briefly look up, give her a quick half smile before looking back into the water. She tried to smile back but he'd already turned away. Quinn knew something was wrong with him. Over the past week, she'd seen many personalities to their newest member. Now, as she looked across the water at him, slouched over and staring into the rippling pool below him, she knew she wanted to help him. He was dealing with something on his own. Quinn knew what that feeling was like and as she walked round the pool towards him, she saw the lost look on his face.

"Hey," She said softly. "It's too cold for you to be out here without a jacket on or something," He smiled and looked up at her. She knew right there just from his smile that he was ok. He still looked upset but his smile reassured her. He lifted his feet from the water and shaking his toes.

"The waters still warm," He said as a few drops of water dripped from the heel of his left foot, dropping back into the pool. "It's kind of relaxing," Quinn let out a soft laugh as she sat down beside him folding her legs underneath herself.

"Are you ok?" She asked. There was a few moments of silence between them where the only sounds that could be heard were the gently splashing of water as the ripples hit the tiled side and the dull thud of music coming from inside.

"Yeah I'm ok," He said. "How you doing? Having fun?"

"Yeah, best party I've been to in a long time," She said instantly with a genuine grin causing him to look at her for just a moment.

"You're just saying that to make me feel better," James said with a smile of his own.

"Not a chance, this party is definitely high on the awesome meter," She said putting her hand above her head try and give a visual as to how good the party was. James laughed at her. After his laugh there was another silence between them. But it wasn't awkward at all. It was strangely comfortable. James sighed as he looked back towards the house. "They were your parents weren't they?" Quinn asked.

"From the video?" James said as he looked back at her. She slowly nodded. "Yeah," James simply answered. Quinn knew what it was like to be away from your parents. Her father had thrown her out when he'd found out she was pregnant. Her mother had just stood by, never saying a word to help her. Eventually, following giving birth to Beth, Quinn had forgiven her mom and now they were inseparable. But for those few months where she was living at Finn's then Puck's and then with Mercedes, all she thought about was how much she missed her mom.

"You must miss them terribly," She said softly. "The video probably didn't help," James looked up at the stars in the clear night sky above them.

"It was the dancing," He answered. "When my mom went into labour with me, I was getting close to three weeks late. They were at a wedding of one of their friends and after just a few minutes of my Mum and Dad dancing, her water broke. My Mum always told me that it was music that brought me into this world. So every year, on my birthday, my Mum and Dad would always dance with each other. I guess seeing them dance again really brought it all back to me,"

"James?" Quinn said softly. He looked down at her. "Can I ask you a question?" He smiled as she spoke.

"Of course,"

"I've asked it before but I'm curious about you," She tried to make her voice sound gentle so as to not upset him encase he got upset. James thought for a second before he realised.

"Ahh that question," He leaned in a little closer to her. "You want to know why I'm here living with my aunt?"

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want too, I'm think the alcohol is making me more curious than normal that's all," She said. James gave her a smirk.

"No I trust you Quinn but it's a very long story, as you sure you want to hear it?" He said to which she eagerly nodded back.

"Start from the beginning," Quinn said as she slipped off her heeled shoes and slipped her feet into the water. James had been right; the water was still warm and was very soothing. The cold air around her seems to evaporate as the heat spread from her feet and up her body.

"I guess it starts with my father," He said as he leaned back on his hands. "Back in the early eighties, he was a drummer in a small time rock band.

"I didn't know you'd be going that far back," Quinn said with a laugh. James smiled.

"Well you said you wanted it from the beginning. I have to give you all the background details first,"

"Sorry," Quinn said as a small hiccup escaped her lips. "Carry on,"

"Well they were close to signing a record deal but they just played small time gigs in bars and festivals. It was at a bar gig in Sheffield where he first met my Mother. They fell instantly in love with each other and within a year they were married with a baby on the way,"

"That was your Sister?" Quinn asked. James nodded before he continued.

"My Dad knew that he would now have to support his family. He knew that the band would soon be getting popular and they'd be doing more touring. He just didn't want to be away from Mom and Sara,"

"Is that your Sister's name?" Quinn asked as she dripped the water from one of her toes.

"Yeah, Dad named her after our Grandmother who had died the year before Sara was born," James answered. "So when she was born, he decided to leave the band," James moved forward slightly obviously trying to get comfortable. "He always used to say 'The road ain't no place to start a family'" James chuckled as he said the words.

"That sounds awfully familiar," Quinn said as she ran the words over and over in her mind.

"It's from 'Faithfully' by Journey," James chuckled again. "One of his favourite bands," Quinn just let off a sly smile.

"He had good taste," She managed to say before James started again.

"Anyway to support his new family, he became a music producer. He focused on helping small time bands and artists get shows and basically start them climbing the ladder towards fame and fortune. Ten years in the business and he was pretty successful but he's managed to not let it run away from him and get too big," James stopped for a moment as he heard the music inside the house change song. All he did was smile.

"What happened next?" Quinn said trying to get James to continue. James glanced at her before looking up into the sky again.

"In early 1993, my Mom tells him that she's pregnant again and on November 14th I was born,"

"A great day for us," Quinn said causing both her and James to laugh.

"I guess the booze is starting to catch up with you," James said.

"Maybe a little," She said followed by another hiccup.

"Maybe we should finish this another time," James said as he went to stand up. Quinn quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him back next to her.

"No, I said I wanted to hear it so carry on," Quinn said as she forced him back into his seat.

"Well they decided to name me after my Grandfather on my Mother's side and from then on I had a very normal childhood. My Mom was just as loving as my Father but I grew up idolising him," James said as he dipped his still bare feet back into the water. "Despite spending every spare moment he could with us, he'd always tell us how he regretted how little time he had with us. Saying he hated how quickly his children were growing up. He was right because the next thing I remember was being a teenager. It's kinda weird but I remember everything that happened but growing up was nothing but a blur to me. It was so quick,"

"I know exactly what you mean," Quinn said as she leaned forward slightly. "It just seems like the first ten or fifteen years seems to flyby, before you know it you're in freshman year dealing with adult problems,"

"Yeah that's right," James said as he leaned forward with her. "By the time I was 13, this regret my dad had about us growing up to fast made him want to help the local communities and make the world a better place for his children and their children so he decides to go into politics. He ran to be a local councillor. He spent many years, helping the local people with problems and giving them the best advice he can. He did all this but he still always made time for his family. We always came first to him. He spent just as much time with me teaching and passing on his love of music to me. I followed in his footsteps and learned the drums but it was always the guitar that I loved," James paused for a moment, leaning back onto his hands again. "He was never disappointed in me choosing it over the drums. Luckily I did pick up his talent and his keen ear. However compared to him, I was always a quick learner. So also being like him with my kind and spirited nature, I became involved with afterschool stuff and with other local groups. I wanted to help people just like he did and the only skill I had was my music so I helped them develop their skills,"

"Ah so that's why you decided to join the glee club,"

"Yeah, once Puck told me you guys were struggling to find someone to replace Kurt; I heard my Dad's voice in my head telling me to do it,"

"We'll tell your Dad thanks from me," Quinn said with a giggle. "We owe him one," James just sighed after a brief silence.

"The stuff I was doing really brought me and him closer together but I wanted him to focus more on his career so he could help more people. I wasn't the only person who thought so either. He had several supporters who wanted him to be able to do more. So after several hints, my Dad decided to begin a political campaign to become an MP," James looked over and noticed the quick flash of confusion on Quinn's face. "Sorry, a Member of Parliament. The same kinda level as your Senators I think,"

Quinn thanked him with a smile before he continued. "Well as Election Day approached, he was an outright favourite to win. I stood by his side during the entire night. I was so proud of him. As the results came in, my Dad was announced the winner, however another candidate demanded a recount of the votes. The recounting was a long process and would of taken it right into the next day so Dad told me to go home and get some rest before school the next morning and that he would text me the results when they announced it," Quinn glanced and noticed James' eyes were closed. He was silent for a long time but Quinn was patient, knowing for his expression it was becoming difficult to talk about.

"During the next day," James said still with his eyes closed. "I was at school, surrounded by my friends; I waited for his text message to come. Constantly checking my phone during class just in case I missed the vibration obviously because I had to have the sound turned off, but nothing came. I sent him loads of messages but nothing. Not a reply at all. During my afternoon classes, the deputy head teacher came and told me to follow him. I started to think I was in trouble for something. Next thing I know I follow him into his office and there's two policemen in there. So I start thinking I'm in serious trouble. They started throwing all these questions at me. I can't even remember what the questions were," James sighed heavily and his eyes opened. He looked down at Quinn who was enthralled with the story and staring right back at him.

"We'll what did they want?" Quinn asked wanting him to continue. James eyes closed again.

"They came to tell me my Dad was dead," James said with a slight hurt in his voice.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," Quinn said seeming to instantly sobering up at the news. "I had no idea," Quinn felt that familiar pull in her stomach. That slight feeling of guilt. "Did they tell you how it happened?"

"He was shot," James said. "By some crazed political activist who didn't want him elected. After them telling me, I don't remember much about what else they said. I just remember running home as fast as I could. My sister was downstairs crying in the living room. I didn't even stop for my two year old niece who ran up to me trying to hug me. I went straight upstairs, to find my Mother on my Father's side of the bed, hugging his pillow. I remember thinking I'd never actually seen my Mom cry before. Her face was red from the tears as she sobbed into the soft cotton. I didn't know what to do so I crawled into bed with her and hugged her, keeping the pillow between us," James said. To Quinn over the past few minutes, he'd seemed to have slipped into a trance. The nature of what he was talking obviously taking away his concentration. She reached over and slipped her hand into his, giving it a comforting squeeze but it didn't do anything. James continued to stare blankly into the water.

"I'm so sorry James," Quinn said softly, once again trying to pull him around. James' eyes closed and without any prompt, he continued to talk.

"My mother was devastated. She hardly did anything and stayed in their bed for weeks. I decided to stay home from school to take care of her. Making sure she ate right and making sure she had fresh clothes to wear although it was mainly bed clothes. But with time, she started to get a little better. She started to come downstairs a bit, talk a bit more. About a month later, she told me I had to go back to school, that I was missing too much. I was hesitant at first, not really sure that it was for her or for me but with her improving a bit, I decided it was time to go back," Quinn was beginning to get a little worried. James hadn't moved at all. He was still staring into the water. All he done was talk and all she could do at the minute was listen to him, hoping he would snap out of it. "The next day I headed into school and all my friends gave me a hug and tell me how much they love me and how sorry they are. But after that they don't talk about it. They would just talk about what they've been doing for the past few weeks. I remember that day being the first time I laughed since my Dad died. It was exactly what I needed to deal with my pain. I remember walking home after school with Emily and Lauren, laughing and joking. I left them to walk the rest of the way home. I was so happy I practically skipped up the street. All I wanted to do was get home and tell my Mom about the great day I'd had. I went into the house and headed straight upstairs to my parent's room. I remember smiling when I saw her. She was laid in bed with the pillow hugged against her chest again. She looked so peaceful. Not a tear in sight. No red marks on her face. Then I realised she wasn't breathing. I panicked and threw back the covers on the bed but then all I could see was the empty bottle of pills she'd taken a few hours before,"

It seemed like the pull of guilt in Quinn's stomach suddenly tried to yank its way out of her belly. Despite James offering to talk about this personal matter to her, she felt massively guilty about her even wanting to ask him about it. For a few moments her mind was completely blank. She had no idea what to say to him. Her own voice spoke before she even got a chance to think about it.

"Losing both your parent's that quickly must have been heart breaking for you," Her voice was delicate on its own. "I can't even imagine how you must of felt,"

"To be honest, I can't even remember how I felt," James said as he shifted his feet slightly. "Sure now I miss them like crazy. But when it happened, I don't remember anything until the funeral. Then all I remember was overhearing someone say my mother died of an overdose. But everyone who really knew her knows she died before that of a broken heart,"

"You believe that?" Quinn asked as she slid closer to him. James simply nodded.

"She just wasn't the same person after Dad was killed,"

"I appreciate you telling me all this," She said as she tightened the grip on his hand. "But why did you have to come to America? Why didn't you just stay with your sister?"

"I did for a while but it didn't work out. My parents left me the family house in their will for when I turned 18. So my Sister, her husband and my niece all moved into it under the agreement that the house was still mine. The next few months spent with my young niece and my Sister was fantastic. It really helped me get back to myself," James sighed deeply before he continued. "But unfortunately I've never been able to get on with my Brother in law. The arguments started after about two months of us all living together. He would complain about anything he could to start an argument. My music and how I was a bad influence on my niece. Everything he could about me and stupidly, I was arguing back but after a while it started to takes its toll. I soon noticed my sister getting depressed and he was threatening to leave her all the time. I saw my sister's marriage falling apart because of me. I didn't want my niece growing up without a father because of me either. I didn't want to leave but it was really the only choice and the only other relative I had was my Aunt who lived here in America,"

"So you sacrificed your whole life to save your sister's marriage to a guy who sounds like an asshole?" Quinn asked causing James to laugh.

"Despite the fact that you're amazing for calling him that, he was only an asshole to me. He's actually a very loving husband and father; it was just me that he didn't get on with,"

"I find it hard to believe that anyone has troubling liking you," Quinn said honestly causing James to smile.

"Well I think he was more interested in the house than he was with me,"

"Really?" She asked.

"Yeah, also in the will, my Dad left me his wedding ring and my Mother left hers to my Sister. As soon as the lawyer gave it me, I put it around my neck on a chain," He lifted the chain around his neck pulling the two rings from below his t-shirt. "But when I decided to come here, the one thing that was stopping me was that these two rings shouldn't be apart. They represent the love my parents had for each other; they should always be close to each other. So the day before I left, I went to my Sister and said I wanted my Mother's ring and she could have the house for it. She was reluctant at first but he forced her to take the deal. Like I knew he would. So now my Sister has her happy family back home and I'm here with my mom and dad over my heart while I settle into my new life," He rested the rings back against his t-shirt. As he did, the music from inside the house suddenly got louder as Brittany opened the sliding door. James and Quinn both looked towards her. They watched as she took a few ginger steps forward towards them. This was unusual for Brittany who was always so elegant and perfectly poised.

"You ok Britt-Britt?" James asked from across the pool. Brittany looked up at them and smiled radiantly at them. She practically skipped round the pool towards them, causing James to wince when she almost slipped into the water a few times.

"James and Quinnie!" Brittany slurred as she sat down between them. "You two look so cute sat here together. Are you going to get together?" She asked. Quinn was about to answer but James beat her to it.

"Are you having fun Britt?" He asked. Brittany turned to him and smiled.

"Yep, this is the best party ever," She said. "But it's missing something," Brittany leaned on James' shoulder and put her arm around Quinn's shoulder.

"And what would that be B?" Quinn asked.

"Body-shots and Spin the Bottle of course. No wild party is complete without these two things," Brittany answered.

"Won't Artie be upset with you kissing other guys?" James asked.

"And girls, don't forget girls too. They give the best lady kisses. It was actually Artie and Santana's idea,"

"Knew Santana had to be in on it somewhere," James said with a laugh. There was suddenly a voice from the other side of the pool.

"Better believe it Phoenix, I be wanting to get my mack on," Santana said as turned back towards the house with a flick of her short black skirt. James watched for a second as she walked away.

"Can we then James?" Brittany asked. "Please," She said giving him her best puppy dog eyes while flashing her long eye lashes at him for added effect. James sighed.

"If you really want to, then sure, but I think we should make it a little bit more mature. We're not twelve years old,"

"More mature?" Brittany asked. "How?"

"With a deck of cards," James answered with a smile.

* * *

_Authors note: What do you guys think? Let me know. Hopefully will post more next week._


	10. Kisses, Bodyshots and Hangovers

_Hey guys. Before I say anything else, I want to apologise that its been so long since I posted anything. This has been for two reasons. One. I've been getting a little stressed out about something happening at my job and its been getting me a little depressed. Two. I've given up drinking alcohol for six months as a kinda health thing. Also I'm working out 4 times a week. Those things combined with the slight depression has meant that when I get home from work I've been not writing anything so I'm running out of material and fast. But have no fear. I am here and dedicated to finishing this fic. I have some brilliant ideas for it. Some suspense and some drama. So enjoy guys and let me know what you think._

_Also I'd like to wish EmilyLauren a Happy 18th birthday! Thanks for all your support Em!_

* * *

The alcohol had taken its toll on everyone and inhibitions had been thrown to the wind as Santana had gone round everyone asking if they wanted to play. The few people who had resisted had been smooth talked into joining in anyway. Everyone was sat on the floor which had been the dance floor only ten minutes earlier. James walked back into the room, shuffling a deck of cards in his hands, while Santana setup the board with the empty bottle in the middle of everyone.

"Ok guys," He said as he placed the cards beside the board. "We'll play this how we play Ring of fire back home,"

"Ring of fire?" Rachel asked innocently.

"Yeah," James said as he sat down between Sam and Mercedes. "Each card has a different rule in that game,"

"So the same will apply here?" Rachel said. "So which card means what?"

"Hold on," James said. "I'm making this up as I go along," He only seemed to need to think about it for a minute. "Alright, let say the numbers represent time, so you draw a card between 2 and 10 and that represents how long you have to hold the kiss for. Then you spin the bottle to find out who you're going to kiss,"

"What about the others?" Finn asked.

"Well, erm..." James seemed to think about it for a while before Santana spoke up.

"The Jacks will be full on make out with tongue," Funnily enough nobody rolled their eyes at her at all. That must of been because everyone's state of intoxication. "The Queens should be a body shot,"

"The Kings and the Aces?" James asked

"That's easy. Kings will be a hickie and Aces will be 7 minutes in heaven," She answered. James looked at her for a moment before shrugging his shoulder.

"Ok but I'm taking some of the Kings and Aces out to make it more interesting," He quickly looked through that full deck and took out two of the Aces and then two of the Kings. He placed them onto the sofa behind him and shuffled the deck again. "And besides everyone walking round with hickies on Monday might be a little suspicious as to what kind of party this was," He set the deck back on the floor next to the bottle. "Santana, why don't you start?" She simply smiled as she reached forward across the board and drew the first card. She turned it over to show it as the four of hearts. She then span the bottle and everyone cheered drunkenly as it quickly revolved on the board. Eventually it slowed and stopped with the neck pointing towards Mike. There was a loud cheering from everyone in the circle.

"Nice," Santana said as she crawled forward to him sexily on all fours. "Some fresh blood," She muttered. Everyone quickly glanced at Tina who with a drunken smile just shrugged her shoulders.

"Four seconds you two," James said. Mike met Santana in the middle over the board. They pressed their lips together and everyone counted down the four seconds. They broke apart when the count hit zero. Both Santana and Mike had a distinct smile on their face as the circle cheered and whooped the kiss.

"Alright," Mike said after a moment. He leaned forward and reached for the cards. "My turn,"

* * *

Everyone was laughing as Blaine licked the salt from Tina's abdomen. He then gulped down the shot of tequila. His face squirmed as the liquid burned his throat. He desperately reached his head down to Tina's lips and quickly removed the lime wedge from her teeth. He relaxed as soon as the lime touched his lips. Quinn watched as he sat back down next to Kurt, still gently nibbling on the lime.

"This is outstanding!" Kurt said his voice slightly slurring. His words we're genuine though. "Who's next?" Quinn had been in a world of her own since she'd sat down. She couldn't help but think about him. James was sat across from her, if not slightly to one side. He'd trusted her with his history. One that not many people would of easily of lived through. James had lost both his parents in a short time, kicked away from his family by his brother in law and then deciding to move away from everything he loved just so his family could stand a chance. How could he even smile like he is now or laugh for that matter? Quinn knew what it was like to be thrown out of her home and to give away a child. A single sacrifice, meant that her and baby Beth could have a normal life. James had done the same. He'd lost everything and then when someone had needed him to step up, this being his sister to save her marriage, he'd done it without question. Quinn knew after barely knowing them for just a few days, barely even a week, James would do the exact same for any of them. She looked at him again as he took a long swig from the bottle in his hand. A cider of some kind. He and Sam were laughing along with the others as everyone took turns on the bottle. Despite her current boyfriend being sat next to him, Quinn couldn't look away from James. A few moments later, she had to look away as James' eyes met hers. She looked towards the bottle in the middle hoping he'd think she'd just glanced at him and had not been staring at him for the last few minutes.

"I think its Quinn's turn," She heard Santana say before Quinn looked up. "She and James are the only ones who haven't done anything yet," Quinn slightly blushed at the hidden meaning behind the Latino's words. She nodded her head and as she looked up met James' eyes again. He had a slight smile on his face. Quinn bit her lip before she spoke.

"Ok, my turn," Quinn said. She leaned forward on her knees and lifted the top card on the deck. She momentarily closed her eyes as she turned over the card and placed it on the floor. Everyone around her started cheering and laughing. She opened her eyes and looked down to see the six of diamonds. She smiled but she became very aware of the butterflies suddenly cascading around her stomach. She knew who in this circle she wanted to kiss. As she reached for the bottle in the middle of the circle, her rapidly increased heartbeat became the only sound she could hear. As she touched the glass, her mind jumped to the dreams she'd been having over the past few nights. This could be her chance to kiss him in real life. She closed her eyes again and spun the bottle, quickly praying that luck would be on her side. She opened them again as she leaned back and watched the bottle spin. Time itself seemed to taunt her as it appeared to slow down delaying the inevitable as long as it could. As the bottle began to slow, everyone around her matched her by holding their breath. The bottle slow came to a stop. The neck of it pointed towards…Sam. The bottle had landed just one person away from who she'd wanted and also on her boyfriend even if they were on a break. Sam looked up at her, looking unsure of what to do. Quinn had decided straight away to make the kiss as short as possible. She leaned forward, prompting Sam to do the same. His lips were slightly aggressive but he didn't push. It was mainly because of the roughness of his lips. There was very little emotion shown as the six seconds ended. Once they split apart, they both smiled awkwardly as a slight silence filled the room.

"Right, James," Quinn said. "Your turn," He just smiled as he leaned forward. Quinn felt the butterflies rise again in her stomach as she realised with some luck James may land on her. As he reached for the cards Quinn went to take another sip from her cup only to realise it was empty. She needed a refill but it could wait. She tried to count how many she'd drank already but she struggled to remember after the fifth. But she was not alone; the others were all in a similar state. However the room was still filled with anticipation as the newbie to the group reached for the top card. James turned over the top card to reveal the Ace of Hearts. As he did the people around him began to either laugh or cheer.

"Finally," They heard Santana say. James smiled and didn't hesitate before spinning the bottle. The butterflies in Quinn's stomach hit overdrive as realised if the bottle landed on her, she would be spending seven minutes alone with James where they could do whatever they wanted. As the bottle slowed, Quinn once again held her breath. In her mind she was begging the bottle to stop on her. Over the faint music in the background, she could hear the bottle slowing. A few more seconds passed before she heard a small amount of giggles and laughter from the people around her. Quinn opened her eyes and looked down at the bottle. It was pointing to the person next to her. A certain petite brunette.

"Rachel?" Quinn thought to herself "Of all the people in this circle, why did it have to land of Rachel?" Quinn felt a burning sensation in her gut from this little bit of envy that was swelling into massive jealousy. Quinn could barely watch as James looked over at her rival with a soft smile. Everyone knew from Santana's uncontrolled burst at glee the other day that Rachel and Finn were having trouble. Finn had lied to Rachel about Santana and now Rachel was going to be spending time alone with James. However before Quinn could think of anything else, Rachel was stood up and pulling James towards the stairs. Rachel gave a quick glance in Finn's direction before they vanished altogether. It was only a few seconds before they heard a door close upstairs before they could hear small amounts of Rachel's little giggles. This is when Quinn decided she needed something stronger to drink.

* * *

The faint hint of sun gushed through the partially closed curtains, shining onto her bare shoulder. Instantly the pounding in her head began as the warm ray of light woke her from her sleep. Quinn opened a single eye lid and tried to focus on where she was. She was laid facing the door with her back to the window. The door was closed, a bright shade of white which matched the frame with a black tie hanging around the door knob. The wall next to the door was a light blue that matched the bed sheets she was currently laid under. However there was little space left on the walls as most of it had been covered by band posters or picture frames containing smiling faces. She could hear faint sounds of music coming from somewhere but couldn't see a radio anywhere. As her thumping hangover began to work its way through her mind, she attempted to roll over to try and find the source of the music as even in this small amount, it was annoying to her. As she went to move however she found there was a body laid behind her with an arm draped over Quinn's side. She hadn't noticed it because it was so light. She inhaled a deep breath and the instant smell of alcohol hit her senses. However in the alcohol was a hint of strawberry shampoo. She knew immediately that it was Brittany that was spooned up behind her. Quinn quickly looked over her shoulder and saw Brittany sleepily looking back at her, smiling.

"Morning B" Quinn said softly as she turned over still with Brittany's arm over her so they were face to face. Quinn glanced around and saw a slightly darker arm hanging over Brittany waist. Santana was spooning behind her. "Is she asleep?" Brittney was about to answer when a voice came from behind her.

"No she's awake," The voice sounded a little rough compared to Santana's normal voice causing the two blondes to smile at each other.

"Morning San," Brittany and Quinn said at the same time.

"Yeah, yeah," Santana said with a slight movement of her hand. It was no surprise that the fiery Latino was no morning person.

"Did you have fun last night Quinn?" Brittany asked.

"Yeah from what I remember," Quinn said vaguely trying to recall much of what happened last night. She remembered them playing spin the bottle and then switching to the shots of tequila but she couldn't remember anything after that. "I remember us playing spin the bottle but that's it," She said as she gently rubbed her eyes. When she opened them again, she could see that Santana had propped herself up and was looking at her over Brittany body and they both looked surprised.

"You don't remember?" Brittany asked innocently. Santana's shocked look slowly turned into a smirk. Quinn knew from that smirk that Santana was enjoying this.

"Why?" Quinn asked. "I didn't do anything bad did I?" Brittany and Santana both looked at each other, both smiling.

"Nothing that bad but you may want to talk to James," Brittany said with a giggle.

"Oh crap," Quinn said as she flopped back against the pillow. "What happened?"

"Well you started hitting the shots," Santana said as she sat up in the bed pushing back the covers to reveal that she and Brittany were wearing baggy t-shirts. "You were a mess pretty quickly. When James came down from being dragged upstairs by the hobbit, you couldn't leave him alone,"

"I remember the bottle landing on Rachael and them going upstairs," Quinn said softly still trying to piece everything together. "I wonder if anything happened?"

"Apparently," Santana said. "Man-hands can't handle her drink. She told James she wanted to make Finn jealous and then passed out on the bed. James made sure she was comfortable and came back down here," Quinn breathed a mental sigh of relief. At least Rachel hadn't got her claws into James before Quinn could.

"Well at least James won't be mentally scared by her," Quinn said with a slight laugh. "So what did I do to James?" She asked with last night antics still evading her memory.

"Dancing with him, drinking with him, I think at one point you were sat in his lap," Brittany added as she looked between Quinn and Santana.

"What?" Quinn asked as she shot up to a sitting position. Why could she not remember this?

"Yeah you were, looked like you trying to decide whether to kiss him or not," Brittany said. "You two actually looked really cute together,"

"Problem is Britt, I'm supposed to be dating Sam, and he was there,"

"He wasn't," Santana said. "He took Artie home with Finn before that. He said goodbye to you but I'm guessing you don't remember that either," Quinn tried to search her memory but couldn't remember Sam leaving at all.

"What else happened?" Quinn asked as the sleepy haze began to lift from her eyes.

"Well we were all dancing again," Brittany said looking at them both.

"Oh then we did a few more body shots," Santana added.

"After Rachael came back downstairs, she fell asleep on the sofa and we were gonna draw a moustache on her," Brittany said with a giggle. Quinn smiled too at the thought of Rachel waking up with a pencil moustache drawn on her upper lip. "But you stopped us from doing it, saying it was mean and she had won fair and square or something,"

"That sounds strange," Quinn said slightly confused as to why she would have stopped that kind of thing especially as it would of be hilarious to just hear Rachel scream from the first time she looked into the bathroom mirror and realised what they'd done to her.

"Then we decided it was time for bed so James sorted everyone out with a place to sleep," Quinn tried once more to search her mind for these events but once again she drew a blank. She fell back against the pillow once again and looked up at the white ceiling.

"I can't believe I can't remember anything," Quinn said softly. "I'm never drinking again,"

"You said that the last time," Brittany said with a giggle. Quinn and Santana both laughed also as the faint music seemed to switch to another song. "So Quinn?" She waited till Quinn was looking at her again before continuing. "You do like James don't you?" Quinn looked between her and Santana for just a moment before she answered with a simple nod of her head. Brittany began jumping up and down on the bed while Santana simply shook her head.

"I knew it," She said. "I knew you had it hot for Phoenix when we saw you outside with him,"

"Oh my god yeah," Brittany said as she continued to jump up and down between them. "Like I said, you two are super cute together," Quinn however didn't match the other blonde's enthusiasm.

"It's not like I can do anything about it B, I'm with Sam," Quinn said back. "Besides I think he might have feelings for Rachel," Quinn sighed as a slight wave of sorrow washed across her chest. Seeing the hurt in Quinn's eyes, Santana placed a hand on Brittany's shoulder to gently stop her from bouncing.

"You don't just have it hot for this guy, do you?" Santana asked. "You really like him," Quinn gently bit her lip before she nodded her head.

"I don't know what it is," She said softly.

"I do," Brittany said with a squeal. "You love him,"

"Calm down Britt," Quinn said with a motion of her hand. "We haven't even kissed yet. We probably never will,"

"What the hell is wrong with you," Santana said with a stern but still quiet voice. Both Quinn and Brittany looked at her, surprised at the sudden strictness in her voice. "If you want to kiss him, just kiss him,"

"It's not that simple Santana," Quinn said still softly.

"Oh yeah the Sam situation," Santana answered, still with the same stern voice while using her fingers to make quote marks in the air as she said his name. "Or are you forgetting that you and Sam are technically on a break," It took a second for Quinn to realise what Santana was saying. As the proverbial penny dropped, the sad look on her face changed to a gleaming smile. "Think about it," Santana continued to speak. "The whole point of being on a break is to see if you're better off without Sam so it's a perfect excuse for you to try things with James,"

"Yeah you can ask him out on a date," Brittany added. "You two are doing your challenge tomorrow so that's a perfect time to ask him," and that's when Quinn realised.

"Crap!" She said as she threw the covers off herself. "We haven't practiced at all for tomorrow. We haven't even picked out a song,"

"Relax Quinn," Brittany said as she gently grabbed Quinn's arm. "I know James is working on it. I even know he's picked out a song,"

"What?" Quinn asked looking confused at her friend. "How do you know?"

"He asked me for my opinion on a few songs," Brittany answered.

"Well why did he ask you and not me?" Quinn wondered to herself but before she could think, Brittany spoke again.

"Why don't you ask him, he's right here," She said while she pointed to the bottom of the bed. Quinn looked at where she was pointing thinking that she missed someone else sleeping on the bed before she realised she meant on the floor at the foot of the bed. Quinn crawled down the bed and looked over the metal frame to the floor below. James was laid on his back with a pillow below his head and a set of headphones blaring music into his ears. He was obviously asleep as his eyes were closed and his breathing was regular and soft. As Brittany and Santana joined her at the end of the bed, she was glad that the music that James was listening too would have blocked out the conversation the girls had just had about him. As the three girls looked down at him, his eyes slowly opened as he seemed to wake up. He seemed to take a moment to adjust to the light before he saw the three girls smiling down at him. He groaned slightly before smiling and laid his forearm across his eyes to block out the bright light. With his other hand, he pushed off the headphones from his ears and they gently hit the floor beside him. Then after a few seconds, he moved his arm from his eyes and looked up at the three girls once again.

"Three beautiful girls sleeping in my bed and I'm on the floor," He said as he slowly sat up, leaning back on his hands. As he did his bones slightly cracked as they adjusted to the weight. "Where's the justice in that," He said with a laugh. Brittany and Santana both chuckled back but Quinn just smiled. James stood up and revealed he was still wearing his black jeans from the night before. He wasn't wearing a shirt but he picked one up as he walked away from them saying something about grabbing a shower as he closed the bathroom door behind him. The girls used this time to get dressed and sort out their hair and makeup. Once they were ready Santana and Brittany left Quinn on her own in the room as she finished off her hair. James came out of the bathroom a few seconds later, and smiled when he saw Quinn sat on the bed using the large mirror on the wall to adjust her hair.

"Hey," She said as she slightly moved on the bed.

"Hey," He said back as he walked towards her. "So how you feeling?"

"Little headache, nothing to worry about though," She answered. "How about you?"

"Me?" He answered with a chuckle. "I'm alright. Just an upset stomach but food will solve that no doubt,"

"I think I owe you an apology," Quinn said as she struggled to get her hair how it was the night before.

"What for?" He asked as he sat beside her on the bed. Quinn could feel her cheeks turn red just from the thought of what had happened.

"Brittany and Santana said I was following you around and generally embarrassing myself,"

"Ahh yes but do you regret doing it?" James asked. Quinn looked at him in the mirror and James met her eyes in the reflection. They both smiled and Quinn was the first to look away.

"No," Quinn said after a few seconds.

"Then don't worry about it. You had fun right?" James asked to which she simply nodded. "I did too," He placed his arm around her shoulder and gave her a gently hug from the side. "You got any plans for today Quinn?" He asked as he stood up and straightened his jeans, pulling the waistband up slightly.

"Ermm," Quinn answered as she thought more about his waistline than the question he'd asked. "Nothing major," She said back once her mind was more focused.

"Well if you're not too hungover, I thought we could work on our challenge for tomorrow. I know it's a bit last minute, but I've got a song picked out," James said as he walked up to his dresser. Quinn stopped playing with her hair and thought about what Brittany had said earlier. She thought for just a moment before she spoke.

"How come you went to Brittany for advice? Why didn't you come to me?"

"What?" James asked.

"Brittany said you went to her to ask for help," Quinn said as James slid on a light green t-shirt.

"Well I only wanted to know what she thought about a few songs and I passed her in the hallway at school so I asked," James said. He turned to look at her. "Besides I knew you'd got your own problems at the minute so I just thought asking the others would be better. You know, so you wouldn't have to worry about it as much," James had tried to avoid eye contact with her as much as he could during the last sentence. Quinn smiled at his apprehension and she patted the bed next to her. James took only a second to sit down next to her.

"We're doing this together," She said as she rested her hand on his knee. "This is your chance to prove to the rest of the Glee club that you can do this. We've all seen you perform on stage but that was in your natural place. This is outside those boundaries so I want to help you. Even if you'd not picked my name out of that box, I would have been asking you by now if you needed any help,"

"I'm sorry Quinn," James said quickly. He was about to say something else before Quinn interrupted him.

"It's ok. Now let's hear this song you've picked out," She said softly.

* * *

An hour or so later and everyone had left, leaving Quinn and James alone to practice their song. Quinn had quickly admitted that the song that James had picked was perfect. It wasn't a normally a duet but James had found a YouTube video where two separate artists singing their own versions had been mixed together. Quinn also agreed for this song that no choreography was needed. This was a calm song which needed you to just sing, not dance. However James had just wanted to sing but Quinn was adamant that James should play a simple acoustic guitar and they could just get the drummer from the Jazz band to provide them with the beat. As they worked, Quinn was practicing the chorus as well as some of the high notes while James worked on the more complicated guitar parts. Every time Quinn would sing a particularly long or high note, James would stop playing just to listen to her before saying it sounded perfect and then starting to play again. Quinn would do the same when he began singing and strumming the gentle tune of the song along with it. After a few hours, the song was done and Quinn was on her way home in James' car as he dropped her before he went to band practice with The Crystals. He'd dropped her off with a smile and Quinn spent the rest of the day delirious. She found herself watching the video of their song on YouTube. What she didn't realise until her mother mentioned it, was that she'd been singing the same song to herself since she'd got home from her supposed sleepover at Brittney's house

"It's for a challenge in Glee Club," Quinn told Judy from the small island of counters in the middle of their kitchen. "Mr. Schue partnered me and James together for tomorrow,"

"The new boy?" Judy asked with a sideways glance as she prepared a light salad for their evening meal. "Is he any good?" Quinn looked up at her mother slightly confused at what Judy was insinuating. The older women instantly picked up on her look her daughter was giving her. "Is he good at singing?" She asked more clearly this time as she shook the lettuce over the sink.

"He's good," Quinn answered simply. She played with the folk her mother had set out for her. "Maybe with some lessons from , he'd be a great singer,"

"What about his personality?" Judy asked causing Quinn to think for a moment.

"He's a great guy," She said. "James is smart, charming and one of the sweetest guy's I've ever met,"

"It sounds like he's a really nice young man," Judy said as she placed the freshly plated salad in front of her daughter. "What about you and Sam? How's that going?" Quinn knew that question was coming and she felt complied to answer the same thing she had for the last three days.

"I don't know Mom," Quinn she said as she gently prodded the meal in front of her. "I guess we're kind of taking a break from each other,"

"Ahh well," Judy sighed as she placed her own plate down at the table. "Things will work out but you should really talk to Sam,"

"I know Mom, thanks," Quinn said with a smile which her mother returned before they both began eating. As they did, Quinn thought about her mother's advice and Quinn knew that it wasn't right to keep dragging Sam on like this. Her relationship with Sam had started simply as a publicity stunt but now it was something different. When she looked at Sam she saw a close friend and James was the same. In just the few short days that she'd known him, James had become someone she knew she could trust and someone amazing to be around. But when she saw James, there was a little tingle down her skin and a light headedness that echoed as her heart pounded in her chest that showed her that she wanted more. As she glanced at her Mother, she knew that Judy was right. She needed to talk to Sam.

* * *

_Thanks for reading guys. Let me know what you think. Also just to let you know, I'm gonna be going through some rough work stuff the next few weeks but I will try my best to update as soon as I can._

_Bunnyboy_


	11. Cowboy Hats and Dark Rooms

_Authors note: Just a short one guys and this one is dedicated to emilylauren. She is an amazing inspiration. If you haven't read any of her work yet, your missing out! Trust me!_

* * *

"Ok guys," Mr. Schuester said as his voice echoed around the spacious auditorium. The members of Glee who were all sat in the middle row looked in his direction. "I hope you all had a good weekend. Today we're gonna be working on our whole routine so far for sectionals on Wednesday. We still need a third song but first we have Quinn and James' challenge," He pointed towards the stage. "Whenever your ready guys," The stage was dark but he knew they could both hear him fine.

As Mr. Schuester was talking, in the darkness of the stage, Quinn was sat next to James, both on stools. His face was calm and centered as if he was ready for anything. However she looked down and saw his hand shaking like a leaf.

"Hey," She said softly and he looked up as he was careful not to catch any of the strings on the acoustic guitar around his neck. "You ready for this?"

"Do I look ready?" James asked back with a smile. Quinn laughed quietly as his hand still shook.

"Not really," She said as she placed the light coloured straw cowboy hat over her hair making sure her pony tail wasn't caught. "How about me?" She asked. She was wearing a simple white t-shirt and blue denim jeans, a black studded belt with a big silver belt buckle in the shape of a bull including the horns. All this as flawlessly set with a pair of beige leather mid-calf cowboy style boots with a black heel. James had brought them in for her saying that his Auntie said she could borrow them as they were the same size. Quinn had folded up her jeans to her knees so to show off the boots which actually fitted her like a dream. James looked over her outfit which was now complete with the hat.

"Perfection would be an understatement," James said. "We really did pull off the line dancing country look though," He said looking down at his own outfit. He was the opposite of Quinn in a black flannel shirt with faded white stripes with a pair of faded black jeans. His boots were a simple pair of brown leather boots covered mostly by his jeans including a Jack Daniels belt buckle. James pulled down on his black cowboy hat with a gold trim. The guitar he was using belonged to a member of the band who had kindly lent it to him at Quinn's request. It was a bright white Gibson and stood out against his dark outfit. They both smiled at each other before Quinn looked back at the band stood behind them.

"Ok boys, let's get started," She said quietly. The bassist nodded and began to count down the other members of the band.

"1,2,3,4" The drummer began playing a simple beat. As he started, the curtains slowly spread apart revealing the stage to their fellow glee club members. Both James and Quinn had their heads down, hiding their faces with their hats as James began to slowly play the strings on the guitar flawlessly leading to Quinn's first lyrics. She sang softly to match the song.

"_It's amazing how you can speak right to my heart_

_Without saying a word, you can light up the dark,"_

Quinn stopped and looked over at James as he sang the next lyrics by himself.

"_Try as I may, I could never explain_

_What I hear when you don't say a thing,"_

Quinn joined in on the last few words creating an acoustic to lead into the next words. James looked back at her with a soft smile while he continued to play the same chords on the guitar. Together they both began to sing the chorus together.

"_The smile on your face lets me know that you need me_

_There's a truth in your eyes, sayin' you'll never leave me,"_

Quinn faded off leaving James to sing the next line.

"_A touch of your hand says you'll catch me if ever I fall,"_

Quinn's smile continued as she joined in again for the last line of the chorus. Their singing voices matched perfectly for this song. James was strong and there was a slight tone where you could tell this wasn't his usual key but it wasn't off-putting. Quinn was singing her usual best but trying not to outshine him at all. She wanted James to be the one everyone focused on.

"_You say it best, when you say nothing at all,"_

This time, it was James' turn to sing the first two lines of the verse. His eyes were closed as he sang and yet he still continued to play the guitar in his hands.

"_All day long, I can hear people talking out loud,_

_But when you hold me near, you drown out the crowd,"_

Quinn listened to him and waited for her next lines.

"_Old Mr. Webster could never define_

_What's being said between your heart and mine,"_

Just as Quinn had in the verse before, James came in and joined with the last few words. However this time they both sang the chorus together.

"_The smile on your face lets me know that you need me_

_There's a truth in your eyes, sayin' you'll never leave me_

_A touch of your hand says you'll catch me if ever I fall_

_You say it best, when you say nothing at all"_

James and Quinn both held the last note for a few moments leading into a short bridge where the guitarist from the band played a soft and slow solo on the electric guitar. Quinn looked over and noticed that James was gently swaying to the music. Before she knew it, she was also swaying gently to match him as they began singing again.

"_The smile on your face lets me know that you need me_

_There's a truth in your eyes, sayin' you'll never leave me_,"

The music slowed as Quinn carried on by herself. The only instrument playing was James' guitar which really brought his individuality to the song.

"_A touch of your hand says you'll catch me if ever I fall,"_

She looked over to James again as if to pass the next line to him as he sang it on his own.

"_Yeah, you say it best…"_

"_You say it best_…" Quinn said softly in her normal voice as their eyes met. James simply smiled before he looked forward.

"_When you say nothing at all,"_ They sang the last line slowly together. The band behind them continued to play the music slowly before the song came to an end. There was a brief moment of silence before everyone in their small audience began to applaud. Mr. Schuester began congratulating them as he walked towards them.

"Guys, that was amazing," He said as James and Quinn both walked to the edge of the stage to meet him. "Quinn great work as usual and James your voice is very natural and we will work on that after sectionals. What made you pick that song?" After he asked, Quinn just pointed to James with a smile.

"The lyrics just kinda spoke to me I guess," James said as she sat on the edge of the stage. "I mean that really looking at someone and being able to see what they're not saying. But I never thought that it was a country song or a duet as I'd only heard a version by Ronan Keating. So I checked it out and turns out originally it was a country song and that Keith Whitley did the original and Alison Krauss covered it in the 90's so I did a search on YouTube and found a version where someone had mixed the two together. Quinn liked it and the rest is history,"

"Well it was fantastic," Mr. Schue said. "It would be perfect for our third song for sectionals if we didn't already have a ballad in it. So we still need another song for sectionals. We have "Time of our life" from Dirty Dancing and Santana's version of "Valarie"," He walked round to the front of everyone as he continued to speak. "We need one more song to fill in the gap to take it above the minimum of eight minutes. Now both songs together are around five and a half minutes so we need something above three minutes to even it out," Mr. Schuester sat facing slightly side wards in one of the seats. "Any ideas?"

"Well," Rachel said. "I could do something from my extensive repertoire," She quickly glanced between her fellow glee clubbers hoping that one of them would agree with her giving her a chance at a solo. However she was met with very little enthusiasm from the others.

"I appreciate that Rachel," Mr. Schue said. "But I still want this to be different than what we usually do and something that displays the range of talent we have," Their teacher's comments made them all think but very little was said and after a few minutes the brief silence was broken.

"Mr. Schue?" James said causing William to look towards him as James was still sat on the stage. "I was just thinking that the set list is good and I've seen the videos on YouTube from your previous competitions," Everyone was looking at James. "I mean the girls are fantastic singers. Santana's sounds amazing when she is singing a bit of Winehouse and Rachel can sing show tunes like nobody else. But no offence to the girls, I think we need some more male voices in this one,"

"Well Sam is singing with Quinn," Finn said.

"Yeah I know but think about it. The Warblers are an all-male choir. We have such a great range of male voices, but you very rarely show them off in competitions apart from the odd duet. How about letting Puck or Artie do a solo or something," William's smile seem to spread as James spoke.

"You know that's a brilliant idea," He said. "and I think I know just the song,"

* * *

The group had finished practicing the new song that Mr. Schue had suggested. Mr. Schue had left the girls to put together the choreography while himself and the guys worked on their voices and putting them to the song. At the end of practice, they all grouped back up in the choir room where Mr. Schuester told them that they'd continue practicing tomorrow. He quickly left followed by most members of the glee club who left one by one. Santana, Brittany and Quinn stayed behind stacking the chairs away to the side. Well Brittany and Quinn were putting the chairs away while Santana sat and watched them while playing with her hair.

"So Quinn," Brittany said as she skipped across the room to grab another chair. "What did he say?"

"Who?" Quinn asked. She knew exactly who Brittany was talking about but she was hoping to avoid this conversation especially in front of Santana. Santana may have been one of Quinn's best friends but Quinn was always nervous whenever Santana had gossip that she could possibly share with the whole school.

"James of course," Brittany said with her normal innocence. "Did you ask him out?" Quinn sighed before Brittany even finished her sentence. The truth was obvious to even Quinn's friends; there was just something about James that Quinn liked. Of course Quinn hadn't told anyone about her dreams. In the last dream, she had been simply waiting for him somewhere and he had come up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She had woken up just after that knowing that her subconscious was telling her that all she would ever need from him was an embrace. But she wanted more from him. A touch, a hug, a kiss. During her classes that day, Quinn's mind had wandered to the party and the touch of his hand in hers or the hug he'd given her the morning after. The feel of his soft eyes watching her as they had practiced together and the tender music his fingers produce as they flowed across the guitar strings. Quinn's moment of thought was broken by Brittany waiting anxiously for an answer.

"No B, I haven't asked him yet," She said as she stacked one of the few remaining chairs onto the others.

"Haven't asked who yet?" Spoke a male voice from the doorway. All three girls jumped and looked as James strolled into the room. "I just forgot my coat," He said as he walked over to one of the few chairs left where he'd hung his jacket over the back. Quinn went silent as he entered the room while Brittany and Santana shared a quick smirk. Quinn however saw this glance and knew exactly what it meant. Santana was hatching a plan and Quinn really didn't want her interfering in this. "So who were you girls talking about?" He asked looking between the three girls with a slight smile. As he looked at Quinn, she knew that she needed to just be direct with him. That way, any plan that Santana was cooking up would be useless.

"You," Quinn said softly. James immediately looked at her. His face showed his slight shock but it quickly changed back to his signature smile.

"Have I done something wrong?" He asked softly. Quinn smiled back and tried to answer but someone beat her to it.

"No," Santana said. "Quinn just wants to ask you something and while she's asking you, you may as well help her finishing put the chairs away. Come on B," Santana stood up as she spoke and passed her chair to James. Within a flash, Brittany and Santana out the door with their pinkies linked. Both Quinn and James watched them leave before James let out a small laugh before he looked over at Quinn.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say those two were up to something," He said as he placed his bag and coat onto the nearby piano.

"Santana's always up to something. Brittany just gets dragged along most of the time," Quinn said as she placed another chair on top of the numerous stacks against the wall. As she turned around, James handed her another chair. She was shocked for just a few seconds as she hadn't expected him to be there but that quickly faded before she took the chair and stacked it with the others. Santana and Brittany had only left them three chairs and they were quickly dealt with.

"So," James said as he made his way over to the piano again. "You wanted to ask me something?" Quinn walked over, while nervously tucking a loose bang behind her ear and stood next to him at the piano where she'd left her folder earlier which was now right next to James' bag.

"Yeah I did," Quinn did everything she could to control her voice. She really didn't want to sound nervous when she asked this but her heart had already quickened its pace and she had subconsciously bit her lip at least ten times in the last twenty seconds. The last thing she needed was to sound nervous as well. James however didn't seem to notice and picked up his bag, placing the strap over his shoulder. He glanced at her a few times, waiting for her to continue but obviously not wanting to push her. "Do you have any plans for tonight?" She asked making sure not to speak too quickly and to speak with a deliberate friendly tone hoping to come across as if she was simply enquiring like most people would ask a friend about what their plans were for the evening rather than a nervous teenager with a crush.

"I've got band practice tonight with the girls," James answered. As he spoke, Quinn felt her heart sink deeper into her chest however she quickly remembered where she was and tried to hide the disappointment from her face.

"Oh," Was all she could answer as she briefly thought about just ignoring this whole James crush thing and just hoping it would go away.

"But I should be done around eight, why?" At James' words, Quinn felt all those ideas vanish into her smile before she spoke.

"We've both been working pretty hard and you did me a favour the other night so I wondered if you'd want to go see a movie tonight?" Quinn once again had to remind herself to slow down her words as she spoke so as continue to hide her feelings. "My treat?" Quinn waited with baited breath for his answer as James seemed to think about it for just a moment. He began nodding his head with that perfect smile of his.

"Yeah that sounds good," He said. Quinn tried her best but she couldn't hide the brilliant smile from forming.

"Ok so I'll meet you at the movies at eight thirty?" Quinn said.

"Yeah, but I insist on paying for the popcorn," James answered as he picked up his bag and coat. He quickly looked at his watch. "I have to rush, I'm late," He looked up briefly before turning towards the door. "I'll cya later Quinn," He said as he vanished. And that was the moment that Quinn felt the butterflies flutter in her stomach again. She had a date and she was nervous.

* * *

Quinn checked the time on her phone for the twentieth time that minute. The screen showed the same time it had for the last twenty times. It was 8:34. She was stood outside the movie theatre on the street curb and as she waited her mind had wandered many times. The last four minutes where James was late had ran through her thoughts. A normal person would just instantly put it to traffic but Quinn wasn't in her normal mind at the minute. Her mind had instantly jumped to the bad things that could have happened. However the rational part of her mind was luckily telling her that it was only four minutes and James wasn't the kind of person to ever stand someone up. He would of called or something. She heard a beep which brought her attention as James' car pulled into the cinemas car park and a few minutes later James walked round the corner. The immediate thought that ran through her mind was that she needed to play it cool however this was overshadowed by James' smile.

"I'm sorry I'm a little late Quinn, I got stuck with the girls," James said as he walked up to her. She shook her head with a smile back.

"Not a problem," She said. "How did practice go?" Quinn glanced over his clothes. He was wearing black jeans and a white t-shirt and over it was a black military style coat with epaulettes and a high collar that came up to his cheeks to protect them from the cold.

"Yeah it went great," James answered. "I told them that I wouldn't be going to any practices for the next few days cause of the glee club stuff," They both turned and walked into the cinema's lobby as he spoke.

"What did they say?" Quinn asked.

"Well they teased me a little but they understood. They don't have any more gigs for a few weeks so there's nothing to worry about," James answered. "So what film do you want to see?"

* * *

It wasn't long before they both walked into the dark rows of empty seats. James quickly looked at Quinn as if to silently ask her where she'd like to sit. She smiled as she gently pulled his arm towards the back few rows. It was one of the smaller screens that the cinema had and tonight it was pretty quiet so there were only one or two people spread around the room. Quinn sat down five or six rows from the back right in the middle. James followed her in and sat down next to her taking off his coat before he did and placing it on the empty seat next to him. The pre-movie trailers were short probably because of the lack of people in the audience and the movie started just a few minutes after they'd sat down. As promised, James had bought them both the popcorn for them to share. In the first twenty minutes of the film Quinn had accidently reached into the bucket at the same time as James causing their hands to touch. Even this slight contact made her heart beat faster. James however seemed to be unaffected by it, only giving Quinn the occasional grin when it happened before he turned back to the screen.

As they became enthralled in the movie and its thrilling plot, time began to quickly fly and an hour and a half had gone by. However the time for Quinn had been mostly spent trying to get James' attention as subtly as she could. James on the other hand had barely taken his eyes of the screen. Quinn had tried a few things like slight touches, moving around in her seat but so far James had only glanced at her. A slender sense of panic was manifesting in her gut as she pondered the idea as why none of this was working and her subconscious responded that James may not like Quinn the way she liked him. Oh course, upon realising this, Quinn let out an uncontrollable sigh, which just so happened to be during a quiet point in the movie. James turned to her.

"You ok?" He asked with his eyes fully on hers. Quinn smiled back.

"Yeah I'm fine thanks," She answered softly. James smiled and looked back towards the screen. She cursed herself for not keeping the conversation going by saying something else. This was the best opportunity to kiss him. In a dark room with virtually no one around and she was running out of time. When the film ended, the lights would come up in the room and she would lose her chance. Quinn thought about what Santana had said. She was Quinn Fabray and if she wanted to kiss anyone, she should just do it. She needed to do this now, for herself. Before she had any chance to stop herself, she reached over and gently placed a hand on James' cheek. She started pulling him towards her and leaning forwards herself. She looked at his lips for a moment and avoided looking at his eyes. As their lips touched for the first time, the instant warmth that coursed through her body caused her to close her eyes. His lips were soft but with a slight rough edge maybe due to the cold weather that had been biting his skin for the past few days. However the heat was incredible. It flowed through her body and touched every part of her. Their lips were only just touching as it should be for an innocent first kiss, but to Quinn it was the most passionate feeling she'd ever had. In her dreams, she had kissed James more intensely then this dozens of times but none of them compared to this feeling right now. She pulled away and for a moment she felt slightly dazed. She heard James sigh which caused her to slowly open her eyes. He was there looking back at her with a confused look on his face. Quinn suddenly felt guilty. The look on his face wasn't what she had expected. Then she realised what she'd done. James didn't know that she and Sam were on a break and she'd just kissed him without any warning. He seemed to look at the space between them for a second before he tried to speak.

"Quinn…I..I," His voice was broken. His eyes darted around as if he didn't know where to look.

"James, I'm so sorry," Quinn said as she tried to reach for his hand. James instantly withdrew it like Quinn's normally delicate touch had burned into his skin. Quinn felt her heart break as he moved away.

"I'm sorry Quinn," He said as he stood up, grabbing his coat as he did. "I can't do this," He turned and began to walk away. Quinn called after him but he only turned back to look at her for a brief moment as he walked through the doors. At this moment Quinn forgot all about herself as she saw the slight hurt in his eyes. It was the same look that James had had when he had seen the video of his parents dancing. As the door closed behind him, Quinn knew she needed to follow him and fast to sort it out. This wasn't something she could forget about and hope it would go away. James was really upset by this and she'd caused it. In the blink of an eye, Quinn grabbed her coat, knocking the leftover popcorn to the floor as she chased after him.

* * *

_Don't you just love cliff hangers? lol Let me know what you think. I'll try and update as soon as I can_


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